Jan. 13, 2025, 5:00 AM EST
GOP Defense Leaders Pushing Trillion-Dollar Pentagon Budget
Austin Pushes for Almost $1 Trillion in Defense Spending (1)
Jan. 13, 2025, 9:18 AM EST
The GOP chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is aiming to “significantly” increase defense spending this year, and he has a new Senate counterpart who also wants to bridge intraparty divides to make that a reality.
Defense spending should be at the “minimum threshold” of 4% of US gross domestic product, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said in an interview. “My number one priority is defense spending, getting it significantly increased and starting the process to getting us to a much higher threshold,” Rogers said. “We need to get over 4% of GDP in defense. We got to start the process now.”
Congress has been wrestling with how the US should prepare for possible future conflict with China and address weaknesses in the defense industrial base supply chain exposed by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
But increasing Pentagon spending may not be an easy feat within the Republican conference where factions, particularly in the House, want to see cuts to government spending. Still, Rogers will be joined by his Senate Armed Services Committee counterpart, Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who also wants to see a boost in spending and takes up the panel gavel this year.
https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/boosting-defense-spending-is-top-goal-for-armed-services-leaders
