With everyone still reeling at the announcement of the $750 billion
proposed military budget for 2020, a huge increase, the Trump
Administration is now offering a proposed spying budget that is
similarly looking for a substantial increase over the previous year.
The proposal stands at $86 billion,
and is a six percent increase over the previous year. As with the
military proposal, it rests heavily on the administration playing up the
threat posed by Russia and China.
This budget includes $62.8 billion for general national intelligence programs, and another $23 billion that would go into the military’s highly secretive “black budget” for military intelligence activities.
It is unclear exactly how much of an increase this amounts to on a
military level, as while the Pentagon did get a substantial amount in
the 2019 budget, no official figure has been released yet. In 2018, the
amount was $21.1 billion.
As ever, the final figure looks to be “more” and to the extent any
justification is to be sought by Congress, they can expect the usual
claims of growing Russia and China threats to be offered.
Trump Proposes $86 Billion Spy Budget
Officials say focus needs to be on Russia and China
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.
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