Lehigh Times

Last month President Joe Biden unveiled his proposed budget worth $5.8 trillion for fiscal year 2023, which includes $773 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Defense- something that was criticized by members of both parties for not being enough despite Biden touting the increase. 

Biden made a speech on March 28 in which he introduced his proposed budget, saying that by ramping up military spending the defense budget “will be among the largest investments in our national security history.” He admitted that some don’t like the increase, but “we’re run a different world today.”

“This budget provides the resources we need to keep Americans safe, ensuring that our military remains the best-prepared, best-trained, best-equipped military in the world,” Biden said.

While Biden said some don’t like the increase, there are actually 28 Republicans on board with an additional 5% over the rate of inflation to be added. According to a report by Fox News, Mike Rogers, who is a ranking member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have led a Republican charge for an increase in the defense budget. All 28 Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee were on board, saying the country “cannot afford to shortchange” national security amid “unprecedented threats” facing the U.S.

In the Fox News report, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said that Biden’s proposed defense budget is “at least a 4% cut in real dollar spending power” after adjusting for inflation. House Republican Caucus Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) added that the budget “cuts the size of our military in the heart of a national security crisis.”

U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) was critical of President Joe Biden’s budget and took to social media to express her frustration. 

“I have delayed putting out a statement about the Defense Budget because frankly it would have been mostly full of words you might expect from a Sailor, but here goes: It sucks,” Luria said on Twitter.

Luria said that the Biden Administration is using a “divest-to-invest” strategy and the Navy has been wasting tens of billions of dollars on ships that the government says there is no use for. She said this includes decommissioning 24 ships, with 11 less than 10 years old. One has been in service for less than a year, she said. She said the fleet now sits at 280 ships and criticized the Navy as well for having no strategy.

“All to save…0.5% of their budget. This, along with an anemic building program, will shrink the navy to 280 ships, at the same time they are calling to build a 500-ship Navy. HINT: If you want to grow the Navy, stop decommissioning more ships than you build,” Luria tweeted.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee representing Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, was not joining with the 28 Republicans opposing the budget, but recently said she recognizes the urgency of providing Ukraine with necessary weaponry. She and a group of seven Democrats and 10 Republicans have made efforts to expedite transferring weapons that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has requested from America.

“Some of my colleagues, myself included, have even been asking the Administration to think longer term – to think about some of the weapon systems and aircraft that might be ours and not all formerly Russian, that we could possibly train up the Ukrainian Army in to make sure that if this does end up being an extended war that they are prepared to fight that extended war,” Houlahan said in an interview with Fox News posted to her website.

According to remarks by the President on March 28, the budget will raise taxes on billionaires and corporations. President Biden pointed out that firefighters and teachers pay more than double the tax rate of a billionaire. He said this isn’t fair and that is why he included a “Billionaire Minimum Tax” in the budget which is a 20% minimum tax applying to only the top one-hundredth of one percent of the population. It raises $360 billion to use in other areas like lowering costs for families and cutting the deficit. It also raises the corporate tax rate to 28%.