Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) believes the White House‘s plans to reimburse severance costs of defense contractors if the companies do not send layoff notices to their employees are illegal, The Hill newspaper reports. According to Jeremy Herb’s story, Graham has advocated for companies issuing the layoff notices to raise public …

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has told military departments and acquisition personnel to operate under current policy without assuming sequestration cuts will occur, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg. According to Tony Capaccio’s report, Carter wrote the Pentagon leadership team does not want personnel, programs and activities to …

Navy Rear Adm. Randolph Mahr has been appointed deputy director of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, within the office of the defense under secretary for acquisitions, technology and logistics. A Monday Defense Department release said he currently serves as commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center‘s aircraft division and …

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited the 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport Wednesday as part of his travel itinerary in the region, American Forces Press Service reports. According to the story by Air Force Lt. Col. Christine Rhodes, Carter met with students and exchange pilots in an international …

The Obama administration is scaling back federal consulting contracts ahead of schedule, reports Nick Taborek for the Washington Post. Last year, the administration made it a goal to lessen consulting contracts by 15 percent, in comparison to Fiscal Year 2010 where $43 billion was spent on federal consulting. Spending reduction for …

Senator John McCain wrote in a blog post that many defense contractors believe that the impending sequestration could lead to serious problems both in national security and employment rates. McCain, together with Senators Joe Lieberman, Jim Inhofe, Saxby Chambliss, Kelly Ayotte, Lindsey Graham, and John Cornyn have asked 13 defense contractors …

If sequestration cuts take effect in January, the Defense Department would have to uniformly cut 11 percent uniformly from each of its estimated 2,500 budget items, Pentagon acquisition lead Frank Kendall recently said, according to Reuters. Kendall made the remarks Wednesday at the ComDef defense industry conference, Jim Wolf and …

Marion Blakey, president of the Aerospace Industries Association, announced that the 18 members of the Aerospace Industries Association executive committee will meet with Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on September 18, reports Jim Wolf for Reuters. Blakey shared last Tuesday that the meeting will potentially revolve around the impact of …

The Marine Corps’ highest-ranking officer recently gave a glimpse into goals for the branch’s acquisitions of a new ground vehicle to replace the Humvee and the Lockheed Martin-made F-35, AOL Defense reports. Gen. James Amos told writer Sydney Freedberg Jr. the branch plans to buy about 5,000 Joint Light Tactical …

The White House budget office will be required to reveal exactly how the government will execute automatic budget cuts in January 2013 if sequestration takes effect, The Hill newspaper reports. Erik Wasson reports President Obama signed the Sequestration Transparency Act, which moved through the House in July by a 414-2 …