Pentagon: It’s official: the Pentagon will get roughly halfway to the Obama administration’s goal of cutting up to $500 billion in defense spending over the next five years.

Department officials will finalize details of the $260 billion in cuts “in the coming weeks,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today. Those will be part of the Pentagon’s six-year budget blueprint due to Congress in early February. Panetta did not provide specifics on what those cuts would include but the message sent was clear: The Pentagon is doing its job. Now lawmakers on Capitol Hill must do theirs. Keep reading →