WASHINGTON — As the Senate nears completion of its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, Defense Secretary Ash Carter continues to warn against "micromanagement" coming from the Hill.

In what appears to be his new refrain, the secretary used the term several times when discussing the Hill defense funding plan during a Friday appearance. The Senate language, in particular, contains provisions changing the structure of the Pentagon that Carter has previously raised concerns over, such as the elimination of the top DoD acquisition official.

"All these management proposals, I think micromanagement by the Congress of executive departments is not a good way to go," Carter said during his speech. Carter first used the "micromanagement" language in a May 17 speech.

The Obama administration has already said it would recommend the president veto the SASC language if it survives conference on the Hill, warning it "would restructure key parts of DOD in ways that have not been thoroughly reviewed by experts, either within or outside the Department, and that are likely … to make the Department less efficient and agile."

In his speech, hosted by Defense One, Carter extended an olive branch, saying he appreciated the efforts that SASC Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Tx., have made towards reforming the Pentagon. Carter highlighted both the general goal of acquisition reform and specific suggestions about strengthening the role of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs as areas where the two committees are aligned with his thinking.

Aside from the question of the acquisition process, Carter said there are two issues he refuses to budge on: breaking the bipartisan budget agreement, which he said provides needed budget stability for the department, and the plan put forth by the HASC to cut the use of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding in April.

House members have said the OCO cut is planned to force the next president to request a vote on wartime funding from Congress, but Carter has said the risk of cutting wartime funds while the US in engaged in ongoing operations is putting US lives at risk.

"The two things I hope we can work through, I really can't agree with, are deferring wartime funding in a time of war, and budget instability," he said. "That just really hurts us. All I can do is ask people to come together behind us."

At the end, Carter pleaded with Congress to listen more to the military leadership when it comes to changes to the department structure.

"They're the ones -- our senior leadership, our service secretaries, our chiefs of staff, and I – we really thought hard about these things," Carter sad. "We took months and years working through them, and they are considered proposals from the people they have charged with running the Department of Defense.

"And I think we need to respect the collective judgment of leadership of the Department of Defense. So I hope we can work through some of these things," he concluded.

Email: amehta@defensenews.com

Twitter: @AaronMehta

Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.

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