WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner has a message for the special bipartisan panel looking for ways to cut the deficit: Leave military spending alone.

The Ohio Republican said at a news conference Thursday that projected defense spending has taken more than its "fair share of the hits" in the debt accord reached this past summer.

President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agreed this summer to cut $350 billion in projected spending over 10 years. The Pentagon is planning cuts of about $450 billion.

The supercommittee has a mandate to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in overall spending cuts over 10 years. If it fails to do so by Nov. 23, or Congress rejects its plan, automatic, across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion kick in, with half coming from defense.