Report: Biden to Ask for Over $770 Billion Military Budget for 2023

According to a report from Reuters, President Biden is expected to ask Congress for more than $770 billion for the 2023 fiscal year’s military budget as the Pentagon focuses on modernization to better confront Russia and China.

Sources told Reuters that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget have agreed to a proposed military budget of higher than $770 billion.

Two of the sources said about $773 billion would go to the Pentagon. Additional funds needed for the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons program and other areas could bring the overall budget to over $800 billion.

For the 2022 budget, President Biden requested $753 billion, but Congress gave him an extra $25 billion, bringing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to a whopping $777.7 billion. Of the $777.7 billion, $740.3 billion is for the Pentagon, $27.8 billion is for the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons program, and $9.9 billion is earmarked for “Defense-related Activities Outside NDAA Jurisdiction.”

One source told Reuters that Congress is expected to again increase the NDAA from what Biden requests for 2023, even if it’s over $770 billion, meaning the budget could easily exceed $800 billion. Biden isn’t expected to make the request for a few months, and the amount could change in that time.

The Pentagon’s spending for 2023 will focus on research and development of new weapons technologies, shipbuilding, space capabilities, and modernizing the nuclear triad. In its 2022 request, the Pentagon said it needed the money to counter China, which it said was the military’s top “pacing threat.”