American Military News by Ryan Morgan May 20, 2020
The Progressive bloc of House Democratic lawmakers are calling for cuts to next year’s defense budget in an effort to free up funding for pandemic response spending.
On Tuesday, 29 lawmakers sent a letter to the House Armed Services Committee, calling on the committee to lower defense spending in order to free up more national budget funds. The letter was organized by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). The letter is signed by many members of the Progressive Caucus, including Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).
“We write to request a reduction in defense spending during the coronavirus pandemic,†the letter begins.
The lawmakers are not seeking a cut in the overall national budget, but are instead asking for defense spending to be reduced to reallocate federal funds to the coronavirus response. The letter does not list a specific budget proposal, but calls for defense spending to be “below last year’s,†which was $738 billion for 2020.
“As you draft this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we encourage you to authorize a level of spending below last year’s authorized level. Congress must remain focused on responding to the coronavirus pandemic and distributing needed aid domestically,†the letter continues. “In order to do so, appropriators must have access to increased levels of non-defense spending which could be constrained by any increase to defense spending.â€
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/05/29-progressive-lawmakers-demand-military-budget-cuts/
