3 Things to Consider With the New Pentagon Budget
The budget the Defense Department will release Tuesday could be the most consequential in recent memory for all involved: troops may lose their jobs, the military could feel the strain from a full withdrawal of all forces in Afghanistan by the end of the year, and an increasingly modern military hopes to shed its antiquated machinery and continually turn to futuristic and unmanned alternatives.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel offered a peek behind his E-Ring curtain last week with a preview of what he hopes to achieve with this latest budget. His desires notwithstanding, the proposed $496 billion laundry list of military needs may fall on deaf ears among members of Congress who want more cuts, fewer cuts, or flat out refuse to allow the elimination of some time-tested military programs and services.
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Russell Rumbaugh, a defense budget expert with the Stimson Center, says this accounts for significant uncertainty.
“From a defense budget perspective, one of the things people are worried about is how much of the ‘free money’ in OCO is going to be used?” he says.
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