March 03, 2017
Why Trump’s Military Buildup Is Not As Big As He Promises
Earlier this week the Trump administration announced it would seek a $54 billion increase in defense spending in an effort to make good on the president’s campaign promise to restore American military dominance. This additional funding is sorely needed to repair military readiness and fund critical modernization initiatives, both of which have suffered under spending cuts imposed by the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011.
Yet this defense buildup, while necessary, is hardly the “historic” increase Trump had claimed.
Administration officials touted their request as a 10% increase above BCA spending limits. While true, this is a misleading baseline. Trump’s request of $603 billion for fiscal year 2018 is only 3% above the Obama administration’s fiscal year 2017 request of $583 billion. And Trump’s request is significantly below the $640 billion that Sen. John McCain and Rep. Mac Thornberry have argued is necessary. The Trump budget is also only modestly higher than what Congress authorized for the Defense Department last year.
Read the full article at Fortune.
More from CNAS
-
The Department of Defense’s Breakthrough Nuclear Moment Risks Slipping Away
Commentary
Unless they act, the Department of Defense’s breakthrough nuclear moment may vanish before it really happens....
By Will Rogers
-
DEFAERO Strategy Series [Apr 09, 25] CNAS' Becca Wasser and Phil Sheers on Revitalizing the U.S. Defense Industrial Base
Podcast
On this episode of the Defense & Aerospace Report Strategy Series, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Becca Wasser and Phil Sheers of the Center for a New Amer...
By Becca Wasser & Philip Sheers
-
From Production Lines to Front Lines
Reports
Executive Summary The U.S. defense industrial base (DIB) is struggling to meet the demands of the current strategic environment—let alone prepare for a potential conflict agai...
By Becca Wasser & Philip Sheers
-
The Pentagon’s Endangered Brain Trust
Commentary
In this environment, sound assessments of emerging threats and new ideas to counter them will be especially vital....
By Dr. Andrew Krepinevich, Jr.
