Officials from the Pentagon addressed the Senate Armed Services Committee this week, asking lawmakers to consider "grandfathering" the reductions that were recently made to the annual cost-of-living adjustments for military retirees under the age of 62.
Military Times reported that Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. James Winnefeld encouraged the committee to exempt current military retirees, as well as servicemembers who are about to leave the military, from the reductions.
"Because of the complex nature of military retirement benefits, we recommend that the Congress not make any additional changes in this area until the commission provides its report," Fox said during the hearing, as quoted by the news source.
In December 2013, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, which outlines defense spending for the year. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law shortly before the start of the new year.
A provision of the NDAA reduces the annual cost-of-living adjustments by 1 percent for military retirees under 62 years of age. By doing so, the Defense Department is expecting to save $6 billion over the next 10 years. However, the COLA reduction will not be enacted until 2015.
The news outlet noted that while Congress approved the bill, no member on the Senate committee stated their support of the COLA cuts during the recent hearing.