The DFAS shuffle

More from The Plain Dealer on the DFAS debacle......

House Democrats' changes in base realignment money, NE Ohio delegation's conflicting priorities threaten new jobs

Congress set up the Base Realignment and Closure Commission at the end of the Cold War to keep politics at arm's length whenever the United States needs to reduce the size of its military infrastructure. With input from the Pentagon, the commission periodically develops a list of proposed changes that go to Congress for an up or down vote, with no amendments allowed.

The BRAC process has worked so well that it is often held up as a model for handling other thorny issues. Even communities that have lost bases generally say they've gotten a fair shake.

In 2005, the Pentagon suggested shuttering the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's Cleveland center during the fifth round of BRAC closings. But a coalition of local business and political leaders made such a strong counter-argument that the commission recommended expanding the Cleveland center rather than closing it. The Pentagon had planned to add 275 jobs by the end of this summer, with another 733 to follow in 2008.

Those plans suddenly are in limbo. The House of Representatives passed a $464 billion bill on Wednesday to keep much of the federal government running until Oct. 1. Under the omnibus package, most departments get to spend at the same levels they did last year. But the House's new Democratic leaders made about $10 billion in adjustments to free up cash for their priorities, including college financial aid and veterans' health. Roughly $3 billion came from the base-realignment budget.

That so upset Rep. Steve LaTourette that the Madison Republican, a tireless advocate for Cleveland DFAS, voted against the entire appropriations bill, which went to the House floor with no chance to amend. Democrat Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland also voted no, though mainly, he wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, because the bill contains money for nuclear weapons that he opposes. Democrat Stephanie Tubbs Jones voted for the bill because, her office said, she feared that otherwise the federal government would shut down later this month. Note to the congresswoman: The bill passed 286-140. Outrage expressed on behalf of your constituents wouldn't have derailed the train.

The appropriations bill now goes to the Senate, where the BRAC money could be restored. But the Senate is unlikely to take up the spending bill until after its Iraq war debate. That might be perilously close to the Feb. 15 deadline for passage, meaning the Senate might be loath to make changes. If it doesn't, Democratic leaders in both chambers have promised to restore the BRAC money, possibly in a supplemental defense appropriation that might arrive on Capitol Hill as early as Monday.

Republicans might have avoided this situation if they had passed fiscal 2007 spending bills when they still ran Congress. Because they didn't, the new kings of the Hill are playing a bit of shell game with BRAC. Cleveland DFAS may well get the money it needs, but the uncertainty is unfair to those who might be transferred or hired here and to the agency as it tries to plan for future space and security needs.

This community won the DFAS fight with facts and diligence. It needs to stay vigilant - and its representatives in Washington need to flex some muscle - so that that victory isn't spoiled by the very politicking BRAC was supposed to prevent.