Opinion: Biden has requested an increase in defense spending. It's not nearly enough. By Henry Olsen March 29, 2022 Washington Post
President Biden's budget request proposes a $31 billion increase in defense spending in the coming fiscal year. That may sound like a lot, but the 4 percent hike doesn't even match our 7.9 percent inflation much less our urgent needs. At the very least, Congress should double that hike. Ideally, it would do much more.
The United States is the linchpin of global security for democracies everywhere. Its leadership role in NATO preserves Europe from Russian assault while a series of bilateral defense arrangements protects Asian democracies from Chinese aggression. The United States also has commitments in the Middle East and combats terrorism and drug trafficking in Africa and Latin America. That's a heavy lift for any nation.
Unfortunately, the United States was straining under this load even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine showed the danger of a third world war was higher than expected. President George W. Bush transitioned U.S. military capability away from confronting large world powers toward fighting small wars against terrorists or other irregular opponents. Those smaller conflicts might have made sense at the time, given the weakness of China and Russia after 9/11. More than 20 years later, it means that many U.S. weapons systems are approaching the end of their useful life spans. China, on the other hand, is massively expanding its military with new, up-to-date technology.
The United States also skimped on forces needed to meet its commitments. During the Cold War, the nation's defense strategy called for the capacity to fight two major wars simultaneously, much as it did against Germany and Japan during World War II. We still have defense commitments that could require us to do that if Russia and China launched coordinated attacks on the West. But we no longer have the military posture to fulfill that requirement. U.S. defense strategy now calls for the capacity to fight one major war. Rebuilding the military's ability to fight in Europe and Asia at the same time would mean building larger forces than the United States possesses, especially for the Air Force and Navy.
Biden's proposed 4 percent defense hike is paltry compared with those needs. It envisions reducing the number of troops this year, not increasing them. Indeed, its proposed pay increase for soldiers and Defense Department employees doesn't even match inflation. Defense experts had been calling for annual hikes of 3 to 5 percent above inflation before Russia's invasion. Even that is probably too small now given the urgent threat to global democracies.
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Congress must provide the leadership that Biden has not. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says defense spending should be increased by 5 percent above inflation. That should be Congress's baseline rather than its ceiling.
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Congress stepped up to the plate last fiscal year, approving $740 billion for the Defense Department rather than the $715 billion Biden had proposed. Exceeding Biden's request again will start to rebuild our national security and show our allies that our bite, if needed, would match our bark.
