ABSTRACT
For many years, the Department of Defense (DOD) held an advantage in dealing with Congress and various executive offices because it possessed the critical data, the expertise, and the analytical capability to advocate its proposals successfully. Congress and the relevant executive offices, primarily the Office of Management and Budget, approved or disapproved DOD programs and budget requests more as matters of intuition than as judgment based on factual information and evaluation. Government operations, particularly in the executive and legislative branches, have undergone significant changes. For example, newspapers, political journals, and academic studies cite the diminishing power of the executive branch and the growth of congressional power. Congressional consistency on national security issues is difficult to maintain because congressmen have a high rate of turnover and because they tend to respond to the changing demands of their constituents.
