WH backs $750b for defense budget
Mattis outlines risks of flat defense spending
WASHINGTON, Dec 10, (Agencies): US President Donald Trump has backed plans to request $750 billion from Congress for defense spending next year, a US official said on Sunday, signaling a Pentagon spending hike at a time of potential belt-tightening elsewhere in the government.
Trump, faced with a budget deficit at a six-year high, told his Cabinet earlier this year to come up with proposals to cut spending by their agencies by 5 percent, but he suggested the military would be largely spared.
The $750 billion would be even more than the $733 billion request that the Pentagon had been expected to make for fiscal year 2020. It is also well above a $700 billion figure Trump cited in October.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had discussed the budget with Trump in recent days and outlined the risks of flat defense spending.
The official said that it was clear during that discussion that Trump wanted to “accelerate the progress his administration has made in rebuilding the military.”
In August, Trump signed a $716 billion defense policy bill.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Pentagon’s pick to be the next commander of US Central Command said on Tuesday that a budget below $733 billion for fiscal year 2020 would increase the risk to the military.
“Anything below $733 (billion) would increase risk and that risk would be manifested across the force,” Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“We are in the process now, very carefully across the department, examining the details of what the nature of that risk would be,” he added.
Discuss
Trump on Monday said he would discuss military developments with his counterparts from China and Russia in the future, in the hopes of ending what he described as an arms race with the countries.
“I am certain that, at some time in the future, President Xi and I, together with President Putin of Russia, will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race. The US spent 716 Billion Dollars this year. Crazy!” Trump wrote in a tweet, the day after he returned from the Group of 20 meeting in Argentina.
Trump did not provide further details.
Earlier, The US Congress approved a two-week funding extension last Thursday, averting a looming partial government shutdown but setting up a potentially bitter spending showdown just days before the Christmas holiday.
Lawmakers had until last Friday to fund several federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, and a major battle had been brewing over President Donald Trump’s desire for billions of dollars in border wall spending.
But in light of the death of ex-president George H.W. Bush, and the related memorial events in Washington, lawmakers came together to approve a short-term stopgap until December 21, allowing additional time for negotiations and debate.
The House and Senate each passed the extension by voice vote on Thursday, and Trump is expected to sign it.
The budget battle in the waning days of 2018 will focus squarely on Trump’s demand for $5 billion in funding for the wall that he has pledged to build along the US border with Mexico.
After losing the House in midterm elections last month, Republicans see the coming two weeks as the final opportunity to secure wall funding before Democrats take control of the chamber on January 3.
Democrats have said they are in no mood to negotiate over Trump’s wall, arguing that $1.6 billion in broader border security funding is sufficient.