2014 budget brings cuts, increases and plenty of debate

We offer a roundup of some of the top stories covering the release of President Obama's 2014 budget proposal, including the possible impact on the IT budget, GSA, VA and major defense spending.

Feds feel the pinch in Obama’s proposed 2014 budget

There are plenty of overviews out there on President Obama’s budget proposal. This one, from our sister publication FCW, is as good as you’ll find. It’s a balanced presentation of the topline, as well as the cuts and new spending initiatives.

IT spending up 2.1 percent in president’s budget

The big winners for proposed IT spending include the Veterans Affairs with a 22.1 percent increase, the Homeland Security Department with a 9.1 percent bump and the Education Department with a 10.3 percent increase.

Cybersecurity also tops the IT agenda with $13 billion in proposed spending, according to this article in FCW.

VA’s top budget priority: Processing disability claims

That headline from NextGov pretty says it all about the emphasis of the Veterans Affairs Department’s budget. They have a blacklog of nearly 900,000 for disability claims. Their proposal has $155 million for a paperliess Veterans Benefits Management System.

White House budget would free up millions for GSA

The General Services Administration will be able to invest $1.3 billion in repairing and maintaining federal buildings under the budget proposal, and would give a boost to the Homeland Security Department’s consolidation on the St. Elizabeth’s campus, according to this Washington Business Journal report.

GSA is also in for some streamlining to save $200 million over the next 10 years.

Obama pitches $166.8B for weapons systems

The defense portion of the proposed budget includes money for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter and funds for the Virginia-class submarine being built by General Dynamics, but it leaves Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk out in the cold, according to the Washington Business Journal.

The defense budget proposal doesn’t include the impact of sequestration, and stands “zero change of enactment,” the WBJ quotes Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute.

Real budget action won’t come until Wednesday’s dinner with the GOP

From the National Journal via Government Executive, this is a bit of inside politics talk about the rough and tumble negotiations to come. President Obama has held at least one dinner with GOP legislators, and has a second planned for the night after the budget is released.

The 2014 budget (yawn) is released

A bit of skepticism about the process and whether the release of the president’s budget proposal really means anything anymore, from Washington Technology editor Nick Wakeman.