National Defense Magazine reports that “with a second round of sequestration looming over the Pentagon, John McHugh, the secretary of the Army said he was hopeful Congress could avert the mandatory budget cuts.”  

“’I wouldn’t use the word ‘confident.’ I would use the word ‘optimistic,” he said Feb. 25 during a meeting with defense reporters in Washington, D.C.”  

“As the Ryan-Murray deal — an agreement brokered by Congress in 2013 to offer sequestration relief — expires in fiscal year 2016, military leaders are bracing for potential funding cuts across the Defense Department budget”