Pentagon crying wolf over budget

Project on Government Oversight - The Pentagon is requesting a $38-billion funding increase in this year’s budget, claiming it can’t provide for national defense without it. However, recent reports from the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) paint a different picture. These reports show that even under the Budget Control Act, Pentagon funding is well above historical norms, and that the Pentagon is failing to take steps to manage this level of funding without negatively impacting operations and readiness....

U.S. military spending in the last decade is unprecedented. According to CRS, in terms of total dollars, the U.S. spends more on the military now than at any time since the Korean War, when it had about double the troops under arms. There have been two major buildups since then, one for Vietnam and the other during the Reagan presidency, both followed by significant drawdowns. In Iraq and Afghanistan however, military spending expanded far more, and contracted far less than in previous conflicts. Since peaking in 2010, it has stayed elevated despite the relatively small scale of operations, and the conclusion of major hostilities.

(Amy Belasco, Defense Spending and the Budget Control Act Limits, Congressional Research Service