WASHINGTON REPORT: Biden's Defense Budget Request: Too Big, Too Small or Just Right?

摘要

Is President Joe Biden's first defense budget proposal too big, too small or just right? It depends on who you ask. The budget caps that have dictated defense and non-defense spending levels for the better part of the last decade - and have frustrated lawmakers on both sides of the aisle - have been lifted this year, giving Congress free rein to adjust the Pentagon request as it sees fit. The Biden administration has requested $753 billion for national defense programs, which is $12.3 billion, or 1.7%, above this year's level. The Pentagon would receive the lion's share of that funding - $715 billion, or 1.6% above this year. Democrats and Republicans are, as expected, sharply divided over that request, with hawkish Republicans painting the small increase as a cut because it does not keep up with inflation. They bemoan the proposal, though still a historically large defense budget, as simply inadequate to fund national security at a time when Russia and China are heavily investing in modernizing their militaries.