The Biden administration is requesting $842 billion in its new defense budget request for fiscal 2024, which continues the trend of it increasing from year to year.
President Joe Biden's request this year is $26 billion more than the enacted level for fiscal 2023, an increase of 3.2%, and it's nearly $100 billion higher than the year before that. Specifics of the defense budget will be released next week.
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The request, which will be hashed out by Congress, includes what would be the largest pay raise for service members in more than two decades. It would increase pay by 5.2% next year, which would be the largest increase since 2002.
"The President’s budget request provides the resources necessary to address the pacing challenge from the People’s Republic of China, address advanced and persistent threats, accelerate innovation and modernization, and ensure operational resiliency amidst our changing climate," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. "This budget invests in taking care of our people with the largest military pay raise in over 20 years, and the largest civilian pay raise in over 40 years, both set at 5.2%. It also provides critical resources to promote the continued strength of our alliances and partnerships while strengthening our partnerships across America and unity within the Department of Defense."
"The Budget enables the Department of Defense to continue building a Joint Force that is the most lethal, resilient, survivable, agile, and responsive in the world and is guided by our three priorities of defending the nation, taking care of our people, and succeeding through teamwork," he added.
Congress opted to add $40 billion to Biden's fiscal 2023 defense budget and could do so again if it finds it to be inadequate.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) rebuked the proposal, saying, “The United States is facing the most complex and challenging set of threats to our national security in decades. Unfortunately, the president has once again submitted a budget request that fails to take these threats seriously. A budget that proposes to increase non-defense spending at more than twice the rate of defense is absurd. The president’s incredibly misplaced priorities send all the wrong messages to our adversaries."
“On the House Armed Services Committee, we are focused on building an NDAA that provides our warfighters with the capability and lethality to deter and, if necessary, defeat the grave threats facing our nation," he added. "Since day one, our committee has conducted robust oversight of Department of Defense programs, authorities, policies, and spending. As we examine the president’s budget and build the FY24 NDAA, we will continue to engage with DOD officials to determine what weapons, resources, and authorities our warfighters need to defeat the threats we face. Our adversaries will only be deterred by strength, not weakness.”
Small factions on both sides of the aisle have argued that the defense budget should be decreased instead of increased. Republicans, in particular, have argued that the military should cut its diversity and inclusion programs and training, which would free up funding.
The backdrop of Biden's requested defense budget is an increasingly tense relationship with both China and Russia, while the U.S. is now expressing more concern about their relationship with each other.
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The Department of Defense's national security strategy calls China its "pacing challenge" and describes the People's Liberation Army as the only power that has the intent and capability to reshape the international order in its favor, while it calls Russia an "acute threat."
U.S. officials have warned in recent weeks that Beijing is considering providing lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine, which would incur a significant response from the U.S., they've warned.