Defense Budget Seen as End of MX, Big Spending Hikes

The $302-billion defense budget adopted by a House-Senate conference committee is a signal to President Reagan that the MX missile program is ended and the days of big increases in the Pentagon budget are over, both Republicans and Democrats said Friday.

In addition, the conferees asserted, the bill will cure many of the worst abuses of the Pentagon’s procurement process--particularly the so-called “revolving door,” through which Defense Department procurement workers often subsequently take jobs with contractors.

The bill authorizing Pentagon spending for fiscal 1986, approved by the conference committee Thursday night, will be voted on in the House and Senate next week and then go to the White House for Reagan’s signature. It represents a freeze on total defense spending at the fiscal 1985 level.

Reagan Sought Increase

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin (D-Wis.) noted that, although Congress for the last four years had approved significant increases in defense spending, the Administration’s request for a 5.9% increase in fiscal 1986 never was considered seriously by Congress.

“The days of big increases in defense budgets are past,” Aspin declared. Yet he acknowledged that the Democrats did not succeed in their goal of killing a number of weapons systems outright. The House had voted to kill 30 programs but the conference committee restored 18 of them, and Aspin conceded that all 12 programs that were scrapped were minor.

In addition, Aspin said, Congress has put the President on notice that it no longer supports the MX missile. The final bill imposed a limit of 50 on the number of MX missiles that may be deployed--or half what the President has been seeking.

“In my view, there is no way we’re ever going to build more than 50 MXs,” he said. “The issue is over. It’s done.”

Republicans generally agreed with Aspin’s assessment on those issues. “The dollar amount shows that the expansion of the last four years, which I have enthusiastically supported, has come to an end,” said Rep. William L. Dickinson of Alabama, ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

Nothing ‘to Boast About’

Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), also a member of the conference committee, said he agreed that the support for overall increases in defense spending has sharply diminished in Congress during the last year. But he added: “I disagree that it’s something to boast about.”

Wilson, a longtime supporter of the MX program, acknowledged also that the MX is permanently stymied in Congress--a fact he said the Administration had not yet accepted. “Hope springs eternal, no matter how many times the door slams in their face,” he said.

The “revolving door” provision was hailed by both parties as a major accomplishment of the bill. It was also the most controversial issue and the last to be resolved by the conference committee.

Only reluctantly did House members agree to compromise on a stringent provision that would have barred Pentagon employees involved in procurement from accepting a job in the defense industry for two years after leaving government. The compromise would:

--Require any defense employee who discusses future employment with a contractor to remove himself from all official dealings with that firm. Violators would be prohibited from working for the firm for 10 years.

--Bar presidential appointees who are “primary” negotiators on a contract from working for the contractor for two years.

--Impose a fine of $5,000 or imprisonment of up to one year on any presidential appointee who knowingly accepts employment in violation of the law. The contractor could be fined up to $50,000.

3,200 Leave Pentagon

About 3,200 Pentagon procurement employees last year filed reports stating that they had accepted jobs in the defense industry, but the General Accounting Office estimates that this number represents only half of those who actually made such moves.

The bill would also restrict the types of charges that a contractor may pass on to the government; require the Pentagon to use more than one contractor for a product, except in specified cases, require the Defense Department to perform a “should-cost” analysis of purchases and improve training of procurement officials.

Aspin noted that, although the conference committee trimmed $2.9 billion from the military retirement program, the cut will not apply to anyone currently in the military.