The US government has spent trillions of dollars since the coronavirus pandemic began, and is expected to spend trillions more on the economic emergency. Questions about where that money is coming from are starting to be asked, and if there’s are any place to cut, it’s the Pentagon.
Spending $700 billion-plus annually, the Pentagon is the largest discretionary spending item in the budget. Outspending every other nation many-fold, the Pentagon could sustain some big costs, and some of its costly weapons schemes could be on the chopping block.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed in an interview with the Associated Press that the “day of reckoning” is coming for the Pentagon’s budget, and that they may soon be expected to tighten their belts.
This is going to lead to another round of battles in Congress, with some difficult-to-justify budget items sure to come up for review, and nuclear modernization in particular is a big expense that may find newfound resistance.
Covid-19 Deficit May Threaten Pricey Pentagon Arms Projects
Esper warns Pentagon may be expected to tighten its belt
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.
Join the Discussion!
We welcome thoughtful and respectful comments. Hateful language, illegal content, or attacks against Antiwar.com will be removed.
For more details, please see our Comment Policy.
