Congress to Add $12.5 Billion in Military Funding; Trump, Pentagon Seek More

Lawmakers Fight Over Big Increase or Even Bigger Increase

Reports from weekend negotiations in Congress suggest that the latest temporary funding deal on military spending is going to provide an additional $12.5 billion to the Pentagon, a figure short of the $30 billion President Trump seeks, and even shorter of the unspecified numbers sought by Congressional hawks.

Fighting umpteen wars and constantly trying to increase the size of the US military in the process gets expensive, so everyone in Congress seems to agree that they need to throw more money at the situation. The difficulty of finding untold billions to waste on wars is a big obstacle, however.

While President Trump is trying to position his massive increase as necessary, and Congress’ present offer as insufficient,, it’s not exactly a battle with two sides, as Congressional hawks were attacking the Trump proposal from the start as insufficient, wanting even bigger amounts.

This “battle” is largely illusory, or exists solely on the margins within the Congress, as history has shown every sequestration gets violated, and even budget proposal, no matter how grandiose, always get a few extra billion tacked on in the end,, irrespective of whether they can afford it or not. The budget-busting military expenses will grow.

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.