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The Issue
The Biden Administration’s defense budget outline does not cover the inflationary rising costs of operating and maintaining the current force structure, much less make the necessary investments to continue to modernize the force. Unless remedied by Congress, the Pentagon will have to reduce its planned training, procurement, and research and development efforts to fund increases in personnel, health care, fuel, and other costs.
Relevant Points
The Biden Administration’s outline requests $715 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2022 for the Department of Defense, a 1.41 percent increase over the enacted $705 billion for FY 2021. In the overall defense budget, which includes the above-mentioned figure for the Defense Department plus funding for the nuclear arsenal, the Administration is requesting $753 billion, a 1.68 percent growth over the previous enacted $740.5 billion.