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“Arbitrary cuts would not be the right way,” Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said in an interview Monday. Congress will evaluate the first draft of President Joe Biden’s budget and review military service proposals to see if they cut unnecessary, so-called “legacy,” weapons programs and infrastructure, Reed said.
Reed’s position is significant because, after Biden’s election, the Democratic Party narrative was heard again, saying that the president would face tremendous pressure from progressives to cut defense spending. National security accounts for about half of the federal government’s discretionary budget.
Biden’s draft budget will align with the Trump administration’s December fiscal plan of 759 billion euros. $ 722 billion for national security. dollars just for the Pentagon. That would be 2.3 percent. more than this year’s budget. The five-year plan provides for about 2.1 percent. annual inflation rate.
The defense budget has largely avoided significant cuts as activities are spread across multiple states. Major contractors for large arms programs, including Lockheed Martin Corp., General Dynamics Corp., Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp., rely on subcontractors across the country, creating a broad base of support.
Lastly, neither side would want to appear indifferent to national security. Competition with China and Russia would also hamper any real prospect of spending cuts.
Congressional deductions
Congressional deductions, Reed said, also prevent Democrats from sneaking out of the Pentagon budget. The number of Democrats and Republicans on Senate committees is equal, so each proposal must attract Republican votes. Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who now chairs the Committee on Budgets, has long called for a 10 percent cut in the defense budget.
Bernie sandersas
“To take over the legislative power of the committee, you will have to secure the support of both Republicans and Democrats, and I think you will notice that there are cuts in favor of the budget in both parties,” Reed said. However, “most feel that we need adequate defense, so we need a stable flow of funding, not a significant reduction,” Reed added.
Although Democrats have a small majority in the House of Representatives, their deductions are similar. Democrats will need the support of Republicans to pass a defense mandate and spending bill and to overcome the Democratic and Republican bloc that regularly votes against defense laws.
Defend military dollars
Rep. Mike Rogers, a senior Republican member of the Armed Forces Committee, said his top priority this year was to avoid defense spending cuts of 3 to 5 percent. impossible.
Representative Adam Smith, a colleague of Mr. Reed, also said that large cuts sound unrealistic. Although Smith anticipated disagreements within the party, he said he expected the national security budget to amount to 720-740 billion euros. Dollars
For his part, Biden told Stars and Stripes in September that he did not anticipate a significant cut in the defense budget as the military worried about potential threats from China and Russia.
While Reed has expressed optimism that there will be no successful attempts to cut the budget, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will have a lot of work to prepare for, said Heritage Foundation defense budget analyst Frederico Bartels.
Austin must “build a strong coalition in the Biden administration to talk” about the funds needed, “because the main challenge will be Congress,” he said in an email. “The members of the presidential party themselves have called for a reduction in the defense budget simply because they believe the budget is too large.”
Another potential endorsement against defense budget cuts is that Reed and New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen are also on the Senate Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations, which approves war dollars. The subcommittee will be chaired by moderate Democrat John Tester of Montana.
“I don’t think you will accept arbitrary cuts just for the sake of cutting back,” Reed said.
Nuclear triad
One of the flashbacks in looming defense spending cuts is America’s newest ICBM, the Strategic Ground Deterrent.
Opponents expect the Biden administration to take action to end at least € 110.6 billion. dollar program for weapons, including a warhead. Northrop Grumman received the production order in September.
Reed said that congressional bilateral support for the Obama administration in 2010’s proposed modernization of the nuclear triad of land, air and naval weapons remains “very strong.”
“Of course this decision is moot, it just proved to be an effective deterrent to long-term nuclear conflicts,” he said of the triad.
“We need to change something,” the current Minuteman III, more than 60 years ago, said Reed. The goal of the US ballistic missile is to “block most” of Russia’s and Chinese land-based nuclear missile arsenal, which would fight hundreds of US missiles throughout the West. “They cannot risk attacking the United States unless they abandon them,” Reed said.
“This is the deterrence theory, which I think has been proven over the years,” he said. Another factor in the discussion is the impact of the abandonment of ground missiles on US allies, Reed added.
With the abolition of ground-based missiles, “the allies may believe that they are no longer safe under our nuclear umbrella,” which could encourage them to increase their own nuclear weapons. According to Reed, such a step would be “terrible.”
Navy
It is also very important that Colombia’s new Navy-class nuclear submarine program does not exceed planned costs and is implemented on time, Reed stressed. The ballistic missile submarine is being built at Kvonset Point, Rhode Island, and is being built by General Dynamics Electric Boat. Mr. Reed has been one of its most active supporters since its launch.
USS Nimitz
© Zuma Press / Scanpix
The Naval Forces plan to deliver the first $ 128 billion on time. The risk of a dollar program is presented by reliance on inexperienced contractors with blemishes in quality control history, says the Government Accountability Office. The first ship in the new nuclear missile class program, the Navy’s highest priority, should be delivered in 2027. The Navy wants the first submarine to begin patrol in 2030.
“We have sent a very clear signal to the navy and contractors that this ship must not exceed its budget and be delivered on time,” emphasized Mr. Reed.
Reed called the Trump administration’s 500-ship plan “ambitious,” but added that it was largely unrealistic. “There are a number of important issues: One is that some older ships require repairs and cannot sail, so it would be fun to have 500 ships, but if a lot of them are not in operating condition, it is just a good number, no. a fleet. “
However, former President Trump’s focus on submarines and autonomous vessels has advantages, Reed said.
“Submarines have received strong support for their inviolability or reduced vulnerability,” Reed said. “Because we work in the Pacific, I think that submarines seem to be becoming more and more important, given the precision of Chinese missiles.”
Autonomous ships and submarines “could become a real trump card,” Reed said. – I just need to understand that this will not be done in an instant. Change won’t happen overnight, it requires resources. “
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