Paul Ryan, Republicans furious over Pentagon memo about 'attacking' defense spending bill

House Speaker Paul Ryan is not pleased about the leak of an internal memo from the Pentagon that outlined a plan to oppose House Republicans' defense spending bill.

The memo, which was written in May and later obtained by Politico, urged Pentagon staff to "attack" the bill and "be prepared to play hardball opposing it."

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Ryan quickly issued a statement following its release on Monday, accusing the Obama administration of putting politics first.

"It's shameless, and it threatens more than five decades of bipartisan cooperation to enact a national defense bill for our troops," the statement said.

Ryan's biggest complaint seems to be how it threatens to use a presidential veto as a weapon.

The letter describes the veto as "the principal weapon at our disposal."

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The leaked memo goes on to detail several key figures in the upcoming vote, including Sen. John McCain and Rep. Mac Thornberry — the chairmen of the armed services committees for the Senate and House respectively.

The memo lists strategies about how to challenge each person and areas where they might be weakest.

Thornberry released a statement of his own saying it was "rather sad that some in the Obama administration spend so much time and effort playing political games."

Thornberry is described in the memo as "still smarting" from when a defense bill was vetoed last year.

The Pentagon's issue with the spending proposal seems to focus on an extra $18 billion included in the budget. It was taken from a war funds account to get around budget caps. The letter calls it a "gimmick."

Government Spending by Program InsideGov

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