$750 Billion Or Bust? Trump’s (Latest) Big Defense Budget Bound For Big Fights
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Few of the experts we spoke to expect the administration to actually see the full $750 billion President Trump will reportedly propose this week. Between Trump himself calling the figure a “negotiating tactic” and the potential for it driving a $1.2 trillion deficit, the odds are awfully long.
Navy To Trump: ‘Don’t Knock Us Over’ With Budget Cuts
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“The waste would be absolutely stunning,” Secretary Spenser said. To cut the already-completed 2020 budget plan so steeply on such little notice, he said, “some of the scenarios will make your eyes water for what we will have to do” in his shipbuilding and maintenance accounts.
Mattis Vs. Mulvaney: The Coming Budget Clash & The Reagan Legacy
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We have been here before. In 1982 Caspar Weinberger and David Stockman had a similar showdown referred by President Reagan. DOD won that time. What does that have to tell us about the impending Mulvaney–Mattis showdown? And if OMB wins this time, would Mattis stay on?
Trump Calls For Arms Control, Rips Own Defense Budget As “Crazy”
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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump injected a fresh dose of uncertainty over defense spending Monday when he derided 2019’s defense budget — which he readily signed and has praised for months — as “Crazy!” The sharp turn in sentiment came in another dreaded early-morning presidential tweet that often shift the talking points for entire segments of… Keep reading →
President Trump, Do NOT Cut The Defense Budget: Inhofe & Thornberry
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Republicans Sen. James Inhofe and Rep. Mac Thornberry say to the White House and to the congressional budget hawks: Yes, budget deficits matter, but defense matters more — because of the degradation in readiness and lack of modernization the armed forces have suffered for more than a decade.
Electronic Warfare Funding Up, But Short of DSB Marker
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“We have not achieved $2.3 billion in budget growth,” Pentagon EW acquisitions director Bill Conley told me. “We are continuing to add investment (and) we are addressing the most pressing gaps.”
New Space Force Costs Could Be Same As A Couple Of F-35s
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While standing up a new Space Force would likely run between $11 billion and $21 billion per year, the vast majority of that money — 96 percent — is already being spent by the Pentagon to run space operations, according to an analysis released Monday by budget expert Todd Harrison at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Can Army Afford The Electronic Warfare Force It Wants?
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WASHINGTON: Army planners are thrashing out how many electronic warfare specialists the service needs, not just to rebuild radio-jamming and spoofing capability in combat units, but to create a training cadre that can sustain the EW corps for the long-term. Whether this plan for robust growth — certainly hundreds of soldiers, possibly over a thousand… Keep reading →
Don’t Expect Any Trump Boost To Defense Spending
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Contrary to the president’s rhetoric, there is no forthcoming Trump buildup, and the new strategy emphasizing China and Russia is becoming ever more elusive and out of touch with fiscal reality. It is simply unaffordable at this point in time.
Pentagon Fails 1st Audit, Space Force Price Plunges: DepSecDef Shanahan
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“We failed the audit. We never expected to pass it,” Pat Shanahan said. But at least the Space Force will cost less than half of the Air Force’s estimate.