{"id":52377,"date":"2018-04-12T16:52:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T16:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/12\/smith-to-mattis-prepare-for-lean-years\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:46:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:46:54","slug":"smith-to-mattis-prepare-for-lean-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/04\/12\/smith-to-mattis-prepare-for-lean-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressman to Mattis: Prepare for \u2018a lean future\u2019 as national debt continues to rise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/02\/09\/congress-votes-to-end-government-shutdown-sending-bill-to-president\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">two-year budget boost<\/a> may be as good as it\u2019s going to get for the military, the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s top Democrat warned Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Capitol Hill on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments come amid new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/publication\/53651\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">government estimates<\/a> that the U.S. budget deficit will exceed $1 trillion in two years, as tax cuts and spending increases signed by President Donald Trump do little to boost long-term economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Mattis testified on the administration\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2018\/02\/12\/pentagon-unveils-686-billion-military-budget-for-2019\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">2019 budget request<\/a>, HASC Ranking Member <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/03\/06\/republicans-jeopardizing-pentagon-budget-boost-smith\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Adam Smith<\/a>, D-Wash., pointed to the downward pressure that growing deficits and budget caps could create in 2020 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhile 2018 and 2019 are great, I hope you are also planning for a lean future, because we are looking at a trillion-dollar deficit this year,\u201d Smith said, adding that the US national debt is approaching $22 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CBO pegs the 2019 deficit at $981 billion and at more than $1 trillion each year thereafter, for a total of $12.4 trillion through 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without \u201cbig picture\u201d budget action from Congress, the nation faces an \u201cenormous problem\u201d fueled by its $1 trillion per year deficit spending habits, Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re going to be right back in the uncertainty a year from now if we don\u2019t come up with some comprehensive way to address our budget challenge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smith\u2019s remarks offer a sense of the direction the committee might take if he were leading. Paul Ryan\u2019s planned retirement from Congress, with more than 40 other GOP departures from the House, fueled further speculation this week Republicans could lose the lower chamber to Democrats in the 2018 midterms.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/04\/12\/mattis-says-no-decisions-on-syria-yet-but-said-chemical-weapons-threat-must-be-addressed\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18097543715980.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Mattis says no decisions on Syria yet, but said chemical weapons threat must be addressed<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The defense secretary said use of chemical weapons against civilians is &quot;beyond the pale&quot; and needs an appropriate response from U.S. leaders.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though Mattis touted the continuation of Obama-era nuclear modernization plans as a priority, Smith reiterated his longstanding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/01\/24\/trumps-nuke-strategy-will-fuel-an-arms-race-say-hasc-dems\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">skepticism<\/a> about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2017\/10\/31\/americas-nuclear-weapons-will-cost-12-trillion-over-the-next-30-years\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">price tag<\/a>, given the future budget environment. Fewer nuclear weapons means a lower chance of a miscalculation, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI just want to put it on the record, I don\u2019t think we need to spend $1.2 trillion modernizing our nuclear weapons,\u201d he said. \u201cChina has 275 nuclear weapons. We have 15, 20 times as many.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smith acknowledged the military\u2019s \u201creadiness crisis,\u201d and hailed the budget deal\u2019s temporary stabilizing effect. One of his top priorities, he said, was to see the budget boost address the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere will be other needs, there will pressures. I hope we don\u2019t give in to those, I hope we remember the troops come first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two-year budget deal did not ease Budget Control Act caps for 2020 and 2021. When Smith pointedly asked Mattis whether DoD was ready to absorb the equivalent of an $80 billion cut, Mattis affirmed it would be insufficient to defend the nation and that he was not planning for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019d love to see the budget go down, and the world that we\u2019re looking at out there, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to be the case,\u201d Mattis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/01\/09\/mattis-asks-senators-to-end-budget-chaos\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP17220614017684.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Mattis asks senators to end budget chaos<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">US lawmakers welcomed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis\u2019 visit to Capitol Hill Tuesday to talk up defense spending and decry unstable budgeting, but it\u2019s unclear he moved the needle in favor of Pentagon spending.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a separate exchange with HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry, Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford both emphasized procurement and modernization alongside operations and maintenance spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRight now, we cannot repair our way out of the situation we\u2019re in,\u201d Mattis said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to buy, in some cases, some of the capabilities we have worn out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist, who is leading the first full audit, appeared at the hearing though he was not on the witness list. Mattis touted the audit and a commitment to budget discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republican deficit hawk Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., approached the issue from the other side of the ideological spectrum, prompting Mattis and Dunford to affirm the nation\u2019s deficit and debt threaten national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acknowledging the DoD budget request is \u201can awful lot of money,\u201d Mattis noted that defense spending represented 5.7 percent of GDP in 1985, versus 3.1 percent in the 2019 budget request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe America can afford survival,\u201d Mattis said. \u201cI recognize the competing and very tough decisions on domestic spending, on healthcare and on defense. I can only tell you we will spend every dollar as wisely as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pentagon\u2019s two-year budget boost may be as good as its going to get for the military, the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s top Democrat warned Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":113818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","ebb","your-military"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["your-army","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["your-marine-corps","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["your-navy","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[8,10],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-52377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-ebb"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6DTMKMEGMJE3FNZVRJOTIVAF44","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2018\/04\/12\/smith-to-mattis-prepare-for-lean-years\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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