House lawmakers today, questioning Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, debated the adequacy of President Biden's proposed $753 billion defense budget, with Democrats and Republicans differing on the importance of $25 billion in unfunded priorities lists the military services have submitted to Congress.
Defense Budget Alert
June 11, 2021
The White House announced today it would restore $2.2 billion in remaining unobligated military construction funds former President Trump previously redirected to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border without the approval of Congress.
June 10, 2021
The Pentagon's top leaders fielded questions and took some criticism today from senators concerned about defense spending and whether the U.S. military is appropriately postured to deter China.
June 10, 2021
The Missile Defense Agency has provided Congress a $367 million wish list to finance eight projects above and beyond the agency's $8.9 billion fiscal year 2022 budget request, additional undertakings that -- if funded -- would increase Standard Missile-3 Block IIA and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor procurement, hypersonic defense funding and support a project to better defend the National Capital Region from cruise missile attack.
June 8, 2021
U.S. Southern Command, in its fiscal year 2022 unfunded priorities list, is asking for $40.2 million to fund Army intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, according to a memo obtained by Inside Defense.
June 8, 2021
New Navy fiscal guidance obtained by Inside Defense calls for the service to stop funding the development of a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile, calls for a new infrastructure plan and states the service cannot afford to develop next-generation air, surface and subsurface programs at the same time.
June 8, 2021
U.S. Space Command's $67 million fiscal year 2022 unfunded priorities list would boost space protection and rapid prototyping and experimentation efforts and help the command reach full operational capability.
June 8, 2021
Army leaders might have to consider allocating a greater share of funding to research and procurement in future years if the service does not receive a higher topline budget to complete its modernization programs, a senior official told lawmakers June 7.
June 7, 2021
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley are slated to appear before Congress this week to justify the fiscal year 2022 defense budget, which would cut procurement by $8 billion and divest some existing weapon systems in favor of new investments in emerging technology.
June 4, 2021
The Biden administration's FY-22 budget, released last week, is facing bipartisan pushback from lawmakers who believe it does not pave the way for the Navy to grow at the needed rate to counter China.
June 4, 2021
The Space Force this week sent Congress an $832 million unfunded priorities list that includes a range of sustainment, infrastructure, resiliency and technology development efforts meant advance to the "Space Force of the Future."
June 3, 2021
The Army's team in charge of upgrading its tactical network is requesting $2.7 billion in fiscal year 2022, a $537 million increase from last year for one of the service's top modernization priorities.
June 3, 2021
The Space Development Agency's $936.7 million budget request is largely in line with last year's projections, but includes its first procurement funding line, which would fund the launch of Tranche 0 satellites by the end of fiscal year 2022.
June 3, 2021
The chief executives of some of the largest defense contractors said this week they are optimistic about the Pentagon budget request issued last week -- but cautioned the numbers are likely to change.
June 2, 2021
The Army is proposing $300 million in fiscal year 2022 for the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon development effort, a 40% reduction compared to $526 million the service previously projected it would require in FY-22.
June 2, 2021
Funding for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team's programs was mostly preserved in the fiscal year 2022 budget request released May 28 by the Biden administration, especially for programs that are still in development.
June 2, 2021
The Pentagon is seeking increased funding for a new software budgeting activity in fiscal year 2022, including the addition of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center's research and development budget as well as the Navy's massive Next Generation Enterprise Network program.
June 2, 2021
The Navy's top unfunded priority for fiscal year 2022 is procuring a second DDG-51 destroyer for $1.6 billion, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.
June 2, 2021
The Army has sent Congress a $4.4 billion unfunded priorities list for fiscal year 2022 that includes money for the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System effort and the Chinook helicopter, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.
June 2, 2021
The Army wants to cut its spending on 155 mm artillery rounds to $174 million in fiscal year 2022, down from the $306.3 million Congress appropriated for FY-21.