President Obama will release the FY2012 federal budget to the public and the Congress on Monday, February 14, 2010.  This year, the budget will be one week later than the normal release date of the first Monday in February.  The White House cited the lateness of final legislative action during the 111th Congress’ lame duck session as the reason for the delay.  The President’s budget plan is expected to reflect his proposals to freeze non-security discretionary budgets (excluding defense, homeland security, and veterans programs) for five years, freeze federal civilian pay for two years, and cut the defense budget by $78 billion over five years.

After the FY2012 budget is released, senior administration civilian and military officials will brief the press and begin testifying before the congressional oversight committees.  Director of Management and Budget Jacob Lew will hold a press conference on the budget, as will Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and other agencies’ heads.  Lew is scheduled to testify on the budget before the House Budget Committee on Tuesday, February 15.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates and ADM Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, will appear before the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on Wednesday, February 16 and the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on Thursday, February 17.  The Military Service Secretaries and Military Chiefs of Staff will begin testifying on their respective components of the DoD budget in March.

Next week, Highlights will include a brief overview of the FY2012 DoD budget request and identify links to official statements and available budget material.