Defense hawks gird for budget brawl
Defense hawks are hunkering down for a fight to get all $640 billion they say is necessary to rebuild the military after President Trump’s budget proposal fell short of their expectations.
Budget experts predict a battle in the coming months between the administration, appropriators, party leadership and congressional committees that may fall short of delivering even the $603 billion Trump has proposed.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees, have the power to push a $640 billion defense policy bill regardless of how the budget shakes out.
“It’s going to be a heavy lift to even get close to Trump’s proposal,” said Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “With that said, the authorizers can go off and mark to something that’s completely different.”
Trump’s $603 billion base defense budget leaves out much of what was on defense hawks’ wish lists, as well as items Trump himself promised throughout his 2016 White House campaign.
The budget includes no additional ships from what was planned under former President Barack Obama, though officials have said the administration supports adding another littoral combat ship and has promised to issue a correction to the budget.
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/335352-defense-hawks-gird-for-budget-brawl
