{"id":86563,"date":"2021-05-13T16:40:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T16:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/13\/cheney-republicans-have-a-red-line-on-bidens-defense-budget\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:00:25","slug":"cheney-republicans-have-a-red-line-on-bidens-defense-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/13\/cheney-republicans-have-a-red-line-on-bidens-defense-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Liz Cheney: Republicans have a \u2018red line\u2019 on Biden\u2019s defense budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 With some House Democrats calling<\/a> President Joe Biden\u2019s defense top line too high, it looked like centrist Democrats<\/a> would have to forge an alliance with Republicans to get defense bills passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s unclear whether that alliance faced dimmer prospects on Thursday. Rep. Liz Cheney, a high-profile Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said the lack of 3-5 percent growth above inflation in the defense budget would be a \u201cred line\u201d for her and other Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my view, that is a red line, and if the administration is not going to be proposing a budget that meets that requirement, then I think they will need to explain to the American people why they\u2019re unwilling to fund defense at the levels the nation needs,\u201d the Wyoming representative told the McAleese Defense Programs Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be important, obviously what is within the top line too,\u201d she said. \u201cI would clearly oppose budgets that were below that number, and I think we\u2019re going to have a very healthy debate and discussion about the administration\u2019s proposal because it is coming in significantly below that number.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is an open question how much influence Cheney commands with the Republican rank and file, having been ousted from a leadership post this week for vocally opposing former President Donald Trump\u2019s unsubstantiated claims the 2020 election was stolen. Still, Cheney has been an influential voice<\/a> for years on defense issues within the GOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheney also signaled that Republicans would resist the possible inclusion of measures to address climate change through the defense budget \u2015 just as Democrats and some Republicans, including Cheney, opposed Trump\u2019s diversion of defense funds to the border wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Former Defense Secretary] Jim Mattis\u2019 admonition to us all that the lethality of the force is what matters is something we all need to remember,\u201d Cheney said. \u201cAnd so as we look at the potential for billions of dollars being redirected \u2014 for example, for climate change projects \u2014 I would have the same views about those as I did when we were seeing billions of dollars being redirected out of the defense budget to build the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White House has delayed releasing its detailed fiscal 2022 budget request until later in the spring, but Biden has released a top-line request of $715 billion for the Pentagon, a 1.6 percent increase that\u2019s roughly flat when adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\t