The Pentagon’s budget is expected to grow in 2020 for the fifth consecutive year as lawmakers push for increases despite recent pushback by congressional liberals and deficit hawks, according to a Washington Post report.
The White House’s 2020 budget request includes $750 billion for defense, with deep domestic spending cuts to health care and education programs.
House Democrats have proposed $733 billion in yearly defense increases in exchange for Republican support for nondefense spending that would be doubled.
The dueling defense figures would increase DOD spending to the highest level since the Iraq war, according to Todd Harrison, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Harrison’s defense spending conclusion is supported by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the Center for International Policy, a left-leaning think tank.
The defense increases also suggest the Pentagon will expand despite President Donald Trump’s call to limit overseas involvement.
Photo provided by DOD
Snap of the Week
Naval Academy plebes climb the Herndon Monument, a tradition symbolizing the successful completion of the midshipmen’s freshman year. The class of 2027 completed the climb in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 11 seconds. Navy photo by Stacy Godfrey
