DOES CONGRESS PLAY A ROLE?
– One Hill staffer said the SASC would not need to approve it because Jif-Com was established by presidential order and therefore what the president giveth he can also take away-eth. But Congress may have a say, just not a veto, said Hoss Cartwright, who held a briefing after Gates’s presser. “Still, Congress is poised to scrutinize the plan. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was generally supportive of Gates’s efforts, but said he looked forward to holding a hearing on the proposal. And Rep. Buck McKeon (Calif.), the ranking Republican, said he has questions about how the job of JFCOM will be executed without the command,” Jen reports. http://politi.co/ddxUC8 GATES’S “DIRTY HARRY” MOMENT – (offered by John Nagl): Gates reiterated – twice – his opposition to the second engine and the C-17 program that Congress wants and the administration doesn’t. He spoke like a man who seems to think Obama has his six. “That bill, I’m confident, will be vet
