From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

The new Congress, the deficit, and the Pentagon.

Hello again, I'm Roman Alney, and this is To the Poet from Public Radio International.

The daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

John Boehner was sworn in his House Speaker today, leading a Republican majority pledged to cut

$100 billion from next year's budget. The Pentagon makes up more than half the spending that

could be reduced, but cuts in the Defense Department are off the table. Even the chair of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff says the deficit is a threat to national

security. Others regard the Pentagon as a paradigm of government waste. Why is it immune from

the cost-cutting voters have asked for? Will the Tea Party make a difference? We'll look at the

prospects. On reporter's notebook later on, Mark Twain and the N-word. First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation,

the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation,

and the Rockefeller Foundation, and its campaign for American workers.

More at rockfound.org.

Well, I'm on me back with To the Point.

The New House majority wants to reduce federal spending,

and every commission on the deficit has called for cuts at the Pentagon.

So why are they off the table?

How much could be saved without endangering national security?

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