President Joe Biden's $6.9 trillion budget proposal for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 includes $842 billion for the Department of Defense (DoD) and an additional $44 billion for defense-related programs at other agencies and departments. For DoD alone, Biden is requesting a total of $886 billion.
According to financial analysts, Pentagon's annual budget is climbing closer to $1 trillion despite its five failed audits, bringing the government debt to almost $32 trillion. Defense Department Comptroller Michael McCord told reporters on Monday, March 13, that the budget request is $26 billion (3.2 percent) more than what Congress enacted last year. (Related: Biden's "excessive" budget proposal to drive national debt to $51 trillion over the next decade.)
"It's closer to nine percent more than what we requested last year and it's basically $100 billion higher than what we had just two years ago," McCord said.
Critics say the DoD has never even passed a full audit, yet the Biden administration is supporting much of the department's expenditures. In the most recent failed audit in November 2022, the Pentagon was only able to account for 39 percent of its assets.
"I would not say that we flunked," McCord said in November. "The process is important for us to do and it is making us get better. It is not making us get better as fast as we want."
Despite the failed audits, Congress continued to raise defense spending. The previous fiscal year, the House approved nearly $45 billion more than Biden had requested for defense spending.
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DoD budget to include increased allocation in ammunition for Ukraine, possible conflict with China
The proposed defense budget includes a 5.2 percent pay raise for troops and the largest allocation on record for research and development, with the Russia-Ukraine war spurring demand for more spending on munitions, Reuter's Mike Stone reported.
Congress confirmed that it will increase defense spending over Biden's request during the months-long budget process that this request kicks off. The Senate and House typically pass bills, setting policy and spending levels for the Pentagon much later in the year.
According to the news portal, the House and Biden's allies are planning to possibly prolong the war in Ukraine and are eyeing potential future conflicts with Russia and China. "Our greatest measure of success and the one we use around here most often is to make sure the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) leadership wakes up every day, considers the risks of aggression, and concludes, 'today is not the day,'" Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said on Monday.
The said budget will also be the first to procure missiles and other munitions with multi-year contracts as Ukraine has shown the U.S. military that it needs to make bigger lots of certain types of munition. They are setting this up as it could potentially be used in case a military conflict with China erupts.
As per the proposal, a boost in the procurement of sophisticated missiles such as the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), and the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) are in line.
"Thus far, funds to backfill the munitions sent to Ukraine, including the JAVELIN and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) were handled by $35.7 billion in supplemental funds enacted in 2022," Stone wrote.
According to senior defense officials, another supplemental request could be drawn up if more funding is needed for Ukraine. However, the 2024 budget already boasts $145 billion earmarked to develop new weaponry like hypersonic missiles, which are fired into the upper atmosphere and can evade even advanced radar systems. The budget would also speed up the DoD's pace for buying the stealthy F-35 fighter jet.
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