{"id":17089,"date":"2021-06-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/06\/28\/moderate-democrats-rebuke-defense-budget-cuts\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:37:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:37:52","slug":"moderate-democrats-rebuke-defense-budget-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2021\/06\/28\/moderate-democrats-rebuke-defense-budget-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Moderate Democrats rebuke defense budget cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 In the upcoming budget debate, a group of moderate Democrats are trying to set a floor for 2022 defense spending<\/a> before progressive Democrats<\/a> try to push it lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders of the House\u2019s Blue Dog Coalition say they oppose calls to fund any less than the requested<\/a> $753 billion national defense budget for fiscal 2022 \u2014 which included $715 billion for the Pentagon. The stance adds fuel to an already complicated budget debate, where Democrats are split and key Republicans are pushing for a boost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe this is a strong and sensible funding request, and we oppose calls to authorize or appropriate funding below this level,\u201d the six lawmakers said in a June 24 letter<\/a> to leaders of the House Armed Services Committee and House Appropriations Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter\u2019s signatories are Reps. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey; Tom O\u2019Halleran of Arizona; Stephanie Murphy of Florida; Ed Case of Hawaii; Abigail Spanberger of Virginia; and Kurt Schrader of Oregon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of six is significant in the House, where the 220-211 partisan split means Democrats can only lose four members on any party-line vote. The letter comes as some Democrats worry that appropriations bills will have difficulty garnering the necessary support to advance before the August recess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy understanding is that it isn\u2019t just my bill that\u2019s in trouble, just appropriations across the board,\u201d Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security Chairwoman Lucille Roybal-Allard told Congressional Quarterly on Wednesday. \u201cA lot of the subcommittees are having problems for different reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House Appropriations Committee\u2019s Defense Subcommittee is set to release its proposed defense spending bill this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter from the Blue Dog bloc emphasizes President Joe Biden\u2019s budget request, which sets its signatories at odds with a group of 50 House progressives who have called on Biden to \u201csignificantly\u201d slash defense. However, it does not rule out an alliance with key Republicans, who have said defense must rise 3-5 percent above inflation to counter a rising China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group of six did not like everything about Biden\u2019s budget. The lawmakers joined bipartisan pushback<\/a> against the request\u2019s formulation of the China-focused Pacific Deterrence Initiative<\/a>, saying Congress should \u201cprovide no less than $4.68 billion\u201d for FY22, as outlined by Indo-Pacific Command\u2019s Section 1251 report. (Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has acknowledged the criticism and said the Pentagon will work with Congress to resolve issues.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on Thursday, several Senate Republicans held a news conference to say Biden\u2019s defense spending proposal is too low, and they challenged moderate Democrats in the Senate to join them. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said moderate Democrats and Pentagon leaders privately told him they are unhappy with the budget request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe think national defense should be the top priory of the Congress, not the last priority, and I think we have the American people behind us on this,\u201d he said. \u201cI think there\u2019ll be tough votes for Democratic senators from states \u2015 Virginia, Georgia, Arizona \u2015 think about those states, very pro-military states.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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China announced last month that their defense budget would be $209 billion.

The United States' proposed $753 billion defense budget is:
\ud83d\udcb8 $544 billion more than that
\ud83d\udcb8 113% greater than that
\ud83d\udcb8 3.6x larger than that

We can afford to cut some wasteful Pentagon spending. pic.twitter.com\/jx77PQdsHY<\/a><\/p>— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) April 14, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>