President Biden's Budget Shortchanges Defense

On March 28, President Biden released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2023. Foreign threats are mounting, and the worst inflation in decades is squeezing America’s defense resources. Biden’s proposal is an unserious answer to these challenges. His plan prioritizes spending on liberal priorities while underinvesting in our national defense.

Biden’s Misplaced Priorities

Less than three weeks ago, President Biden signed the FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act into law. The law provided $703 billion in base nondefense spending, cutting $64 billion from the president’s unrealistic FY 2022 request. The law also provided $29 billion more than the president requested in base defense spending, for a total allocation of $782 billion.

The FY 2022 funding law also provided dollar-for-dollar increases between defense and nondefense spending. The president’s budget rejects this consensus. He proposes $801 billion in nondefense discretionary funding in FY 2023, a $98 billion – or 14% – increase over the FY 2022 enacted level, and $813 billion for national defense, a $31 billion – or 4% – increase.

The president is marketing his budget request as being focused on “safety and security at home and abroad,” but the numbers reveal a different set of priorities. Once again, his math doesn’t add up.