White House Seeks $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget as Iran War and China Drive Modernization
Updated
Updated · The Atlantic · Jun 17
White House Seeks $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget as Iran War and China Drive Modernization
3 articles · Updated · The Atlantic · Jun 17
Summary
$1.5 trillion is the scale of the White House defense push, built around more than $1.15 trillion in the main budget plus roughly $350 billion in separate legislation and additional still-unspecified Iran war funding.
The administration says the surge is needed to modernize aging forces, replenish depleted munitions and prepare for threats from China, Russia and Iran; the plan includes up to $75 billion for drones and autonomous systems and more than $65 billion for shipbuilding.
Critics argue the windfall could let the Pentagon avoid hard strategic trade-offs, locking in costly multiyear programs and high-end systems even as recent wars show the value of cheaper asymmetric weapons.
The proposal also sharpens a domestic political fight: Democrats call it a dangerous splurge, some Republicans object to $73 billion in nondefense cuts, and polls show 61% of Americans say using force in Iran was a mistake.
Congress is being asked to back record military spending even as lawmakers still lack full details on the Iran war, which the Pentagon has said had already cost $29 billion by May.