Tea Party activists say the Pentagon should be targeted for cuts by the “supercommittee” created in the debt-ceiling deal.

Groups affiliated with the conservative grassroots movement say defense cuts should be on the table as the supercommittee tries to compile at least $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts.

The pressure from Tea Party groups could put pressure on establishment Republicans named to the supercommittee, who may wish to protect the Pentagon from severe cuts.

“Nothing should be sacred, and everything needs to be evaluated and cut as much as it can be,” said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots.

Tea Party activists say defense programs should come under the same knife as any other taxpayer-funded programs, and that massive national security budgets were not exempt from their definition of “big government.”

“The liberty movement is about the fundamental limitation of government, and that doesn’t have departmental boundaries with regards to this principle,” said Chris Littleton, co-founder of the Ohio Liberty Council.

No defense hawks have been appointed to the committee yet, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) yet to announce her picks.

The most notable defense hawk passed over for a spot on the panel is House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), who had called for a strong defense voice on the committee. Instead, the Republican picks have all vowed to oppose any tax increases, suggesting that the party leadership has placed higher priority on preventing tax increases than on avoiding defense cuts.

That’s not to say the defense industry doesn’t have friends on the panel.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who was one of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) picks, has advocated for Boeing tanker contracts, which brought jobs to her state.

The Pentagon is likely to be hit by further budget cuts no matter what under the deal signed into law by President Obama.

That legislation would impose up to $350 billion in cuts over the next decade on the departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs, among others.

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