Military Budget Deal Skips Sequestration, Erases $22 Billion in Cuts

Spending Increase Still Less Than Pentagon Wanted

More details emerged on the Budget Committee deal for military spending, skipping over sequestration-mandated cuts and increasing military spending by $22 billion in 2014, and $31.7 billion over the next two years.

Previously, the 2014 military budget was supposed to be capped at $498.1 billion, but now it is over $520 billion. This doesn’t include some $80 billion in additional spending on the Afghan occupation, bringing the overall Pentagon budget to $607 billion.

The plan aims to make military retirees pay some of the difference, cutting the cost-of-living adjustments for them to below the level of inflation. They will  also require veterans to pay more into their requirement accounts.

Even though this is quite a bit more than the Pentagon was supposed to be able to spend, the Pentagon is still complaining its not enough, and that they had planned on an increase of $54 billion above the spending cap.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.