Pentagon May Ask for More Money After Budget Battle : Weinberger Believes He Has President’s OK to Request Supplemental Appropriation

Senior Pentagon officials, acting on Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger’s instructions, are considering asking Congress for a supplemental appropriation in the wake of the drawn-out budget battle that would give the military only enough money in 1986 to keep up with inflation.

But despite Weinberger’s apparent interest in renewing the fight for more money, several of these officials acknowledge that Congress is unlikely to go along with the request--raising the possibility that the defense secretary could engage the Pentagon in a needless, no-win battle.

“The idea of a supplemental this fall, which Cap thinks he has an agreement on, is crazy,” said one senior official who spoke on the condition he not be identified. Nonetheless, he added: “It will take awhile to convince him. He might want to go down fighting.”

Pledge From Reagan

Pentagon officials said that Weinberger, in pursuing the search for additional money, is relying on a pledge he believes he holds from President Reagan that, after accepting an inflation-only increase from last year’s budget authorization for fiscal 1986, he has the right to seek more funding later in the year.

Already, the defense secretary has told his senior advisers--who have passed on his instructions to the military services--to prepare reports on areas to be considered if a fiscal 1986 supplemental appropriation is sought. At the same time, the aides must complete intensive preparations for the fiscal 1987 budget request that the Pentagon will submit later this year to the White House and early next year to Congress.

Legislation authorizing $302.5 billion in fiscal 1986 defense spending was approved July 30 by the Senate, reflecting a compromise with the White House and the House. But Democrats in the House balked at approving the measure and delayed a final vote until next month, saying they were betrayed by Reagan and their representatives on the budget conference committee.

Senate and House appropriations committees have yet to recommend actual spending levels for the military in fiscal 1986, which begins Oct. 1.

‘Preparatory Reconnaissance’

One senior official who spoke on the condition he not be identified said that the Pentagon is in the midst of “a preparatory reconnaissance” effort to determine “where we are, where we could go, what things might be considered” in the budget realm--and that, so far, those questions remain unanswered.

But even as that work is carried out, some at the Pentagon have expressed concern that Weinberger is sending them on a doomed mission in view of the strong, but ultimately unsuccessful, Democratic effort to hold defense spending to the fiscal 1985 level of $292 billion.

“Goldwater and Dole would just go through the roof,” said one official, referring to Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), one of the Pentagon’s chief defenders in Congress and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.).

And in the House, which has provided the most opposition to Pentagon budget requests, a Republican source warned bluntly that “politically, it’s not something that will be easy.”

Aspin’s Difficulties

He pointed out that Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, had angered other House Democrats by agreeing to the $302.5-billion defense budget figure and would face even more difficulty if he decided to support a new Administration request.

Still, the Pentagon hierarchy seems likely to follow through on Weinberger’s apparent interest in a supplemental appropriation. “The boss says it, so they’ll look at it,” a defense official said.

Under the compromise--accepted reluctantly by Weinberger--the Pentagon, White House and Congress agreed to provide for an increase of about 4%, to cover anticipated inflation, in the Pentagon budget next year. Increases of 3% beyond inflation would be provided in 1987 and 1988.

Detailed Scrutiny

For several months, the defense secretary has said that he will hold to the 3% figure in the 1987 budget request, already the subject of detailed scrutiny at the Pentagon.

Government agencies that seek supplemental appropriations are expected to offer specific requests based on changes that have occurred since the original budget was submitted and approved. In the Pentagon’s case, these changes could involve a shifting economic picture, particularly figures anticipating inflationary trends, or changes in the evaluation of the threat posed by the Soviet Union.

Officials emphasized that consideration of a supplemental budget request has not reached the point where recommendations for specific military programs are submitted to Weinberger. Such a step is likely to be delayed until the Senate and House appropriations committees prepare legislation allocating funds for individual programs.