America’s armed forces are in a state of “managed decline.” It is an irresponsible policy decision on the part of the Biden Administration as China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and international terrorist build up their power and become far more belligerent. Under the current White House, the Army, Navy and Air Force have become smaller, and shrink even more. As Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang have increased and/or modernized their nuclear forces, the U.S. deterrent will have atrophied to an increasingly dangerous level.
The Biden Administration submitted to Congress a proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget request of $849.8 billion for the Department of Defense (DoD.) Inflation will further reduce the Pentagon’s spending ability. That figure, in light of the dire and dramatically increasing threats the nation faces, is grossly inadequate.
U.S. defense spending, as part of the country’s GDP, has declined. In 1994, it was 4.22%. Today, it stands at about 3.4% of GDP. It accounts for 1/6 of the federal budget.
The Department of Defense notes the cuts: “… our budget request reflects targeted reductions to programs.”
Key analysts state that a minimum of $867.3 billion is required. America now will have fewer fighter planes, helicopters, and drones. The plan would cut the purchase of an attack submarine, and it would slash missile defense.
Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) sounded a warning upon learning of the figure: “Our enemies are growing more hostile in every corner of the globe. The Chinese Communist Party is once again increasing its military spending by over seven percent. Russia shows no sign of stopping if it succeeds in Ukraine, and North Korea is going on the offense after years of playing defense. Iran is financing hundreds of attacks on our troops in the Middle East. This moment begs for a thunderous declaration of American resolve. Instead, it seems the leader of the free world would rather preside over a quiet decline in strength. For the fourth year in a row, the president has asked Congress to cut national security funding… The president’s budget fails to recognize that China wants to take control of the Pacific. It represents a commander-in-chief who refuses to expedite the delivery of tools commanders need to secure the region.”
Wicker is not alone in his concern.
According to an American Enterprise Institute study, “…it is not enough to carry out the defense strategy, which itself is also now out of date; it trades modernization for readiness; and it leverages innovation investments with proposed process improvements. … We are ceding ground in the fight to maintain a force that is big enough and has enough of the right equipment, training, and agility to deter or fight and win the nation’s wars…The requests for procurement and research, development, test and evaluation are both cut from last year’s request. These are actual reductions, before accounting for inflation. If this sounds familiar, it should. With the increasing costs of must-pay bills for personnel and operations in the defense budget and an emphasis on non-core functions over lethality, it is really the only way to balance the books in a declining budget.”
Similarly, the Heritage Foundation notes that “In this document, his Administration’s misguided priorities are on full display. While paying lip service to the concept of China as the primary challenge for the United States, the official request fails to align spending with strategy. Most egregiously, the request fails to procure the ships, aircraft, and munitions the military needs to deter China in the Indo-Pacific. It is, in a word, insufficient to keep the American people safe.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that this is the fourth year that this is the fourth year in a row the defense budget represents a cut when inflation is taken into effect. It will result in a net loss of six ships. The Navy, under Biden, will have been reduced. One of the most urgently required vessels to deter China is the Virginia class submarine. Under the Biden budget, acquisition will be cut in half.
The cuts extend even beyond the Earth. The Space Force, required to counter the hiked threats from Russia and China above the atmosphere, will lose $600 million, representing 2% of its total budget.
Frank Vernuccio serves as editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy and Government
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