If you count next year’s budget, the president will be actually selling himself short. But his other superlatives are not justified.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.With a two-year budget deal the Pentagon is getting what it wanted: budget certainty. But that certainty comes at a cost.
By Paul McLearyIf Congress fails to pass the 2020 budget, the Navy will have to delay necessary repairs on two nuclear-powered carriers, further stretching the fleet at a critical time.
By Paul McLearyThe White House defense budget for 2020 falls short of commitments made and actual requirements to meet the military’s strategy, but it begins to shift priorities and start the long process of investing in long-term competition with China and Russia. Washington still lacks the budget details for another week, but here are some initial reflections…
By Mackenzie EaglenTwo top Democrats blasted the proposal, calling it a “blatant attempt to make a mockery of the federal budget process.”
By Paul McLearyRepublicans Sen. James Inhofe and Rep. Mac Thornberry say to the White House and to the congressional budget hawks: Yes, budget deficits matter, but defense matters more — because of the degradation in readiness and lack of modernization the armed forces have suffered for more than a decade.
By Colin ClarkThe stakes are high for President Trump’s nascent Space Force because a poorly integrated service is a price America cannot afford to pay. This means a careful, thoughtful, conditions-based approach must be followed to assess if and when an autonomous military space organization will provide the best path forward. All four services will contribute to…
By David DeptulaGiven the two-year break from sequestration, the Pentagon is hurrying up to hire civilians to push the modernization of the force to head off advances by China and Russia, a new DoD strategy document says.
By Paul McLearyThe Navy is moving ahead with its Ohio replacement submarines, and is using a little-noticed budgetary gimmick to pay for some of it.
By Paul McLeary“You fix your roof when it’s sunny out, and right now it appears to be sunny for the next couple of years,” Esper said. “We have to do our best now to find those dollars so we can, again, apply them back to our priorities.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.No American military service has fought longer than the Air Force. They pretty much have been at war since Kosovo. They are beginning to grind down. Breaking D readers are familiar with many of their problems — too few pilots, really old planes and too little time in the air. The head of the Air…
By Larry SpencerWASHINGTON: Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the White House had decided not to include aerial refueling as a capability for the next Air Force One fleet. Why? To save money. President Donald Trump has apparently made the decision, reflected by this decision and the…
By Colin ClarkCAPITOL HILL: Congress’s repeated budget malpractice and the Navy’s flawed policies combined to cause the accidents that killed 17 sailors, the Navy and the GAO say. Legislative dysfunction means budget cuts, caps, and delays have chronically shortchanged training and maintenance across the fleet, forcing sailors to work 100-plus hours a week to try to catch…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Budget dysfunction in DC can disrupt Pentagon programs and leave allies hanging. The US needs to reform its budgeting process to support its leadership role, two RAND scholars argue.
By Stephanie Young and Megan McKernan