Trump budget supports subs

Funding levels remain on par with recent years

In his first full budget plan, President Donald Trump is proposing to fund submarine construction at levels similar to recent years, and also is showing his support for sustaining the two-a-year build rate of Virginia-class attack submarines.

In his budget proposal for fiscal 2018, Trump is requesting a 10 percent increase in defense spending, while simultaneously proposing to cut federal spending overall by $3.6 trillion over 10 years. It would reduce spending on safety-net programs by more than $1 trillion over 10 years.

Trump’s $4.094 trillion budget request, dubbed “A New Foundation for American Greatness,” is a starting point for what is likely to be a fierce debate in Congress over federal spending.

Among other things, the Trump administration is requesting another base realignment and closure round, a process known as BRAC. Congress repeatedly has rejected requests for another BRAC round since 2013.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called the budget “nothing short of declaration of war against America’s most vulnerable people.” U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said it “would devastate Connecticut” and vowed to “make sure this budget never becomes a reality.”

Under Trump’s request, the Virginia-class attack submarine program would receive $5.5 billion, on par with recent years, and $1.9 million, the same appropriated under the recently passed spending bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2017, for the Columbia-class program, a new fleet of 12 ballistic-missile submarines.

Blumenthal said he intends to seek an additional $200 million in advance procurement funding to “help maintain schedule and costs” for the Block V of Virginia-class boats. The Navy buys ships in blocks and the Block V contract, the next to be awarded, is expected to be awarded next year. Those submarines will be built between 2019 and 2024. Initially, only nine submarines were expected to be built during that timeframe. The Navy proposed building 10 to help mitigate an expected decline in the size of the attack submarine force. Trump’s budget indicates his support for 10.

“For them to put that in black and white is pretty powerful confirmation that that’s the plan,” said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District.

But Trump’s overall proposal for Navy shipbuilding isn’t sufficient to start the buildup to 355 ships that the Navy wants, according to Courtney.

“The rest of the shipbuilding budget raises a lot of eyebrows,” Courtney said, noting that Trump’s budget includes funding to build eight new ships, including two submarines, despite the Navy’s target of 12 new ships.

The Navy’s new force structure assessment calls for an additional 47 ships, including 18 more attack submarines. Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, recently released a white paper that notes that the industrial base could produce 29 additional ships over the next seven years if funding were made available.

At the same time, Trump’s budget slashes workforce training programs under the Department of Labor used to train industrial-base workers.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard, which originally faced a $1.3 billion cut, would be funded at levels similar to recent years. Adm. Paul Zukunft, commandant of the Coast Guard, recently testified that the service will need 5 percent annual growth in its operations and maintenance accounts, and at least $2 billion for major acquisitions “to operate and maintain our assets and preserve our acquisition programs.”