Pentagon risks getting 'fatter not stronger' with spending increases sought in new budget
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon budget request for 2019 puts the military on a course of spending unmatched since the Reagan-era buildup, boosting the number of troops, warplanes and bombs, according to documents and analysts.
But, defense analysts say, it risks flooding too much money into a Defense Department that may not spend it wisely.
“The risk is that when the budget is flowing freely, policy makers are usually reluctant to make hard choices,” said Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a non-partisan think tank.
“While this is not a record increase, it comes on top of a budget that was already higher than the peak of the Reagan buildup when adjusted for inflation,” Harrison said.
The spending blueprint released Monday by the Pentagon emphasizes the new national defense strategy that accounts for the rising threat from China and Russia. Under the two-year spending deal reached Friday and expected to be signed this week by President Trump, the Pentagon would receive $716 billion in fiscal year 2019, an increase of 7%.
In its spending blueprint released Monday, the Pentagon requested $696 billion, which included $597 billion for its day-to-day operations and weapons buying, and another $89 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and against the Islamic State. About $30 billion more would be spent by other government departments, including the Department of Energy for the nuclear arsenal.
The priorities for new spending include: adding 25,900 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to the force of 1.3 million, increasing production of F-35 and F-18 warplanes and buying more bombs and missiles.
“What we were able to do, our budgeteers, were getting constant guidance as the national security strategy and the national defense strategy were put together,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters traveling with him in Europe. “So we’re already starting the longer term. In other words, this all feeds into the longer-term view. Â It’s already couched inside the defense strategy.”
The Pentagon has nearly 20% more capacity in its bases than it needs, spends increasing amounts on pay and benefits for troops and has old, expensive weapons system that need to be retired.
“The Department of Defense is still in desperate need of reform in many areas,” Harrison said. “If the Department of Defense does not continue to reform and make smart cuts even when the budget is growing, it will just get fatter not stronger.”
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