Page:CTRL0000034609 - Transcribed Interview of Kashyap Pramod Patel, (December 9, 2021).pdf/115

115 That wasn't relayed to me, and I don't think the premise of your question is entirely accurate. We didn't require it for high-level folks, such as the Chairman. The Chairman and others were allowed to meet and talk with their representatives after discussing the matter with the General Counsel's Office because we didn't want to hold the high-level folks up because of their scheduling requirements.

How about the budget? When was the budget shared with the Biden-Harris team?

That would be entirely Deputy Secretary—former Deputy Secretary Norquist's lane. He is the budget guru of the Department of Defense, and we left that to him.

So you didn't have any role in when the budget was shared with the Biden-Harris team?

We—it probably came up in the many conversations we had, but I don't have an independent recollection of saying, "This is the date we're going to do the budget," or—I don't even remember when the Biden-Harris team asked for, quote/unquote, the first.

And, when we do budgets, just as a caveat, at the Department of Defense, we don't just present the DOD budget. Each respective budget is broken down into the separate Under Secretaries and their Deputy Secretaries so that the right people can consume those budgets.

You'd agree this is a huge part of the transition, is understanding the budget?

Yeah, the budget was.

The budget, as we understand it, wasn't shared until well into January with the Biden-Harris team.