This week the House of Representatives slammed the door on bigger defense budgets without more accountability.
The fissure opened at the end of the 118th Congress among Republicans voting on funding for the U.S. military. After much wrangling, the Senate and House agreed to setting the Pentagon’s budget in fiscal 2025 to $884 billion.
But that’s not the whole story.
The Senate approved $909 billion for America’s military, but several House conservatives yanked the brake lever on the extra $25 billion.
Hawkish corners of the conservative world squawked in protest. The Wall Street Journal editorial board lamented that the Republicans of the 2020s may join the Republicans of the 1930s in “failing to protect the country.” The bizarre claim that greater military spending might have prevented World War II omits the glaring fact that Democrats controlled the House, Senate and White House from 1933 through 1947.
So, what’s so wrong with wise fiscal owls in the House?
A more assertive House of Representatives is good for the republic. While the Senate wields great power — and senators often joke that the House is the “elementary school” — it is in the House where all spending must start. The nation’s founding fathers originated the power of the purse in the House because its 2-year election cycle puts members closer to the people, and thus more in tune to their mood.
And the will of the people at the moment is one of fiscal restraint.
Americans are jittery about Washington’s spending spree on all programs, not just the Department of Defense. Just look at the excitement surrounding DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. There is a real air of excitement on both sides of the aisle that the pair can whack back our regulatory thicket and curb the nation’s $36 trillion federal debt and $2 trillion annual budget shortfall.
For decades, the Grand Old Party reliably increased defense spending year after year. Defense spending in fiscal 2024 reached 13 percent of the federal budget, but that excludes spending on veterans by the second-largest federal agency: the Department of Veterans Affairs. The proposed VA budget for fiscal 2025 is $369 billion, which will likely pole vault America’s total spend on its military over $1.2 trillion next year.
Even in Washington, DC, that is a lot of money.
In general, the American public supports a strong military and is in favor of robust defense spending — but the rumor of a $600 Pentagon hammer still hits home. Taxpayers are furious that the Department of Defense can’t seem to find $824 billion, failing its seventh audit in a row. It is hard to ask for a raise when nearly a year’s worth of appropriations have seemingly disappeared into the E-ring’s couch cushions.
Taxpayers don’t much like that the nation’s premier weapons programs are bloated and mismanaged. Find a major weapons system program that isn’t over budget or behind schedule. I’ll wait.
They’ve also watched, with growing alarm, as the nation’s defense stockpiles have dwindled. It’s hard to cry empty pockets when Congress has given $174 billion to Ukraine since 2022, including some of the most advanced U.S. weapons. Our military leaders are warning Congress that we are running critically low on key weapons and reserves. The stop engine light is on, but America is still flooring the accelerator like its 1995.
Lastly, there’s the question of need. When all you buy is hammers, every problem begins to look like a nail. There is a sense among conservatives that the U.S. military has been pushed by Democrats beyond its core competencies of breaking things and killing people. The Defense Department budget now includes vast expenditures on non-defense spending such as cancer research and environmental restoration. Brilliant analysis by Elaine McCusker estimates that as much as $109 billion in the Pentagon’s budget really belongs elsewhere in the federal balance of accounts.
The best way to get America’s military funding back on track is to show the taxpayer that the Department of Defense is squeezing every nickel until the buffalo burps.
Featured Image Credit: Noclip
