Congress made $80 billion-plus in changes to defense budget
Congress shifted a sizeable chunk of the Pentagon's budget to reflect lawmakers' priorities
By John M. Donnelly
Posted October 4, 2023 at 4:03pm
The fiscal 2023 Defense appropriations law contained at least $80 billion in changes to President Joe Biden’s Pentagon budget request, according to a previously undisclosed new Defense Department report and congressional documents.
Lawmakers added fully $61.4 billion for hundreds of different projects that were not sought in Biden’s request for fiscal 2023, according to an August report to Congress produced by the Pentagon comptroller’s office and posted on that office’s site.
Notably, the report only counted additions to the budget that were individually worth $20 million or more.
The fiscal 2023 Defense appropriations law added a net $44 billion in total funding above the request. So, to make the $61.4 billion in unrequested projects fit under even that higher funding topline, lawmakers had to cut $17.4 billion worth of programs that the Defense Department wanted.
Those $78.8 billion in plus-or-minus alterations do not tell the full story, however.
https://rollcall.com/2023/10/04/congress-made-80-billion-plus-in-changes-to-defense-budget/
