{"id":17770,"date":"2021-06-02T16:58:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T16:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/06\/02\/congress-should-rewrite-the-pentagons-pacific-deterrence-budget-request\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:39:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:39:37","slug":"congress-should-rewrite-the-pentagons-pacific-deterrence-budget-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2021\/06\/02\/congress-should-rewrite-the-pentagons-pacific-deterrence-budget-request\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress should rewrite the Pentagon\u2019s Pacific deterrence budget request"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThe president proposes, the Congress disposes,\u201d says the old adage. Many details of the Biden administration\u2019s first defense budget request<\/a> remain forthcoming. But it\u2019s already clear that Congress should dispose of the Pentagon\u2019s request for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative in the trash bin. Legislators will have to rebuild PDI from scratch, or else risk the initiative slipping into irrelevance through botched implementation by the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress established PDI in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2021 to address two key problems. The first was budget transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon\u2019s budget isn\u2019t aligned to specific theaters or threats<\/a> \u2014 a significant obstacle for congressional oversight. PDI was meant to provide a consolidated budget display that would identify the Pentagon\u2019s key efforts for enhancing deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and enable Congress to track those efforts over time, assess their efficacy and adjust resources accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second problem was resource allocation. The Pentagon has been investing heavily in a variety of programs to maintain America\u2019s military advantage over China. But those investments tend to be heavily weighted toward platform-centric procurement as well as research and development \u2014 broadly applicable across multiple theaters and realized over the long term. Congress intended PDI to rebalance the Pentagon\u2019s Indo-Pacific investments by elevating the priority of joint and enabling capabilities; tightening the focus on Indo-Pacific theater posture and logistics, particularly west of the international date line; and seizing on investment opportunities to enhance credible deterrence against China in the short and medium term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon\u2019s PDI request reflects a deliberate choice to ignore the bipartisan and bicameral intent of Congress. That\u2019s why the top Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services committees blasted the Pentagon<\/a> in a statement that said it had \u201centirely missed the point\u201d of PDI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress established PDI to improve budget transparency and oversight. The Pentagon\u2019s PDI request does the opposite by omitting investments that would fit well within PDI, while including those with tenuous connection to the purposes set out by Congress in legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget request includes more than $1 billion in infrastructure investments in Guam, Japan and Australia. None of that was included in PDI. Likewise, the Pentagon excluded Indo-Pacific security assistance funds, leaving a pitiful $500,000 for \u201cstrengthening alliances and partnerships\u201d in the initiative. Meanwhile, nearly all proposed funds for PDI went to procurement or R&D programs that Congress made clear were not the focus of the initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress established PDI to better match the Pentagon\u2019s investments in platforms with the joint and enabling capabilities they require, especially posture and logistics. But the Pentagon\u2019s PDI request is essentially a \u201cPlatform Deterrence Initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, funding for one destroyer, one fleet oiler and three programs related to the F-35 fighter jet account for nearly three quarters of PDI. Just $23 million \u2014 less than 1 percent \u2014 of the PDI request is for \u201cforce design and posture,\u201d arguably the initiative\u2019s most important line of effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\t