Last week, the White House released President Biden’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2024, which begins October 1 of 2023.
As usual, the biggest portion of the discretionary budget request – 52 percent – was for military spending.
While that’s usual, what’s not usual is the sheer level of that military spending. The Biden request calls for $886 billion in spending for the military and war preparations.
That’s near historical high levels, on par with spending at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – even though those wars officially ended with the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021.
It’s far higher than the height of military spending during the Reagan years at the height of the Cold War. Looking further back, the Biden request is higher than the height of the Vietnam or Korean wars, too.
The Biden request is $28 billion higher than what Congress approved for regular military and nuclear weapons operations in 2023 (excluding most military aid for Ukraine).
But the Biden request is just the beginning of the story.
Biden’s request of $886 billion has no legal force. At best it’s an opening bid, and if past patterns hold, Congress will approve significantly more. In 2023, for example, the …read more
Source:: Institute for Policy Studies