July 02, 2020

‘How Much and How Fast’: Biden Watchers Anticipate Defense Spending Crunch

Featuring: Susanna V. Blume, Robert O. Work, and Robert F. Hale

Source: Defense One

Journalist: Marcus Weisgerber

Defense spending is likely to decline or at least flat-line in the coming years, regardless of who wins November’s presidential election. The pressures on the economy from the coronavirus pandemic and a growing budget deficit are just too great. If former Vice President Joe Biden defeats President Donald Trump, the Pentagon’s $700 billion budget may be cut a bit deeper. But the biggest difference between Trump’s and Biden’s future defense budgets, many said, won’t be the bottom line of total spending — it will be how those dollars would be allocated.

Defense One interviewed several current and former top-ranking political and military officials, and budget watchers to ask what they expect a Biden presidency would mean for defense spending and the global defense industry. The actual size and scope of any Pentagon cut, they say, may depend less on Biden and more on how other Democrats fare at the polls in congressional races. It also will depend on Biden’s policy advisors, their vision for a new national security strategy, and whatever awaits them over the horizon.

Read the full story and more in Defense One.

Authors

  • Susanna V. Blume

    Former Senior Fellow and Director, Defense Program

    Susanna Blume is a former Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security. Her research areas included the Defense program and budg...

  • Robert O. Work

    Senior Counselor for Defense and Distinguished Senior Fellow for Defense and National Security

    Secretary Robert O. Work is the Distinguished Senior Fellow for Defense and National Security at the Center for a New American Security and the owner of TeamWork, LLC, which s...

  • Robert F. Hale

    Former Adjunct Senior Fellow, Defense Program

    The Honorable Robert F. Hale is a former Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a Senior Executive Advisor at Booz Allen Hamilton. From 2009 until...