{"id":16674,"date":"2018-12-06T17:22:58","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T17:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/06\/inhofe-urging-trump-to-boost-defense-sees-no-strategic-rationale-for-cuts\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:01:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:01:04","slug":"inhofe-urging-trump-to-boost-defense-sees-no-strategic-rationale-for-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2018\/12\/06\/inhofe-urging-trump-to-boost-defense-sees-no-strategic-rationale-for-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Inhofe \u2018urging\u2019 Trump to boost defense, sees \u2018no strategic rationale\u2019 for cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=3a1232f9-48d9-4a91-b878-49e6fdfe93e8\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-3a1232f9-48d9-4a91-b878-49e6fdfe93e8.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., says he and Sen. Jim Inhofe, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, can work together despite their differences.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe said he used a recent two-hour White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Vice Mike President Pence and national security adviser John Bolton to urge the administration to reverse course on a planned cut to the fiscal year 2020 national defense budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m urging the president to consider\u201d approving a \u201cstrategy-driven budget,\u201d he said Thursday in a speech at the National Defense University focused on his priorities for the committee. &#8220;There\u2019s no strategic rationale for any cut\u201d to the defense budget, which stood at $716 billion for 2019, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inhofe and HASC chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, on Wednesday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/12\/04\/mattis-gop-hawks-warn-trump-at-white-house-against-defense-cuts\/\" target=_blank>lobbied<\/a> the president to reject a planned $700 billion defense budget request, ordered by the White House budget office, in favor of a rival $733 billion budget which aligns with the National Defense Strategy.<\/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\/pentagon\/2018\/10\/26\/its-official-dod-told-to-take-cut-with-fy20-budget\/\" 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=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Trump_Luke-AFB_10.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\">It\u2019s official: DoD told to take cut with FY20 budget<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Pentagon is gearing up for a budget cut.<\/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\">The remarks come days after Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/budget\/2018\/12\/03\/trump-calls-us-defense-spending-crazy-pledging-talks-with-putin-and-xi\/\" target=\"_blank\">tweeted<\/a> that the size of the FY19 defense budget he signed last year was \u201cCrazy!\u201d Trump said he hoped for talks soon with his Russian and Chinese counterparts to end, \u201cwhat has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race\u201d \u2014 a likely reference to negotiations over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/11\/30\/us-lawmakers-tangle-over-nuclear-arsenal-russia-treaties\/\" target=\"_blank\">Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A supporter of the president and proud conservative, Inhofe made the candid admission that, \u201cI cringe a little,\u201d whenever Trump tweets. He said he doesn\u2019t blame Trump, however, for trying to get around a media that, \u201chates him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have to admit \u2014 confession\u2019s good for the soul \u2014 every time I hear that a tweet is coming out, I cringe a little,\u201d Inhofe said. \u201cBut, wouldn\u2019t it be kind of nice if he had someone to bounce those off, change the wording maybe a little bit? But how else can he circumvent a media that hates him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Surrounding himself with uniformed military officers Thursday, Inhofe paired partisan jabs at the media, \u201cliberals,\u201d and President Obama with praise for Trump on defense spending, seating judges and the economy. Asked about rising deficits in the face of his defense spending proposal, Inhofe suggested cutting social programs and dismissed tax cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As defense hawks head into a budget season marked by a divided Congress, Inhofe has launched a media blitz to amplify his message that the Pentagon\u2019s planned $733 billion top-line is \u201ca floor, not a ceiling\u201d and that he wants three-to-five percent real growth in the defense budget.<\/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\/11\/28\/inhofe-sets-collision-course-with-dems-on-defense-budget-nukes-and-transgender-troops\/\" 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\/GettyImages-996393522.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\">Inhofe sets collision course with Dems on defense budget, nukes and transgender troops<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe lays out his priorities for the next Congress \u2014 but accomplishing them won&#039;t be so simple.<\/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\"><b>Budget Control Act Looms Large<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inhofe reiterated his argument for exempting defense from the 2011 Budget Control Act\u2019s caps, which has been a non-starter with Democrats who have fought for parity between defense and non-defense spending each year since the BCA was passed. Inhofe said he hoped to break parity for FY20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe top priority in this country should be defense,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople here in the military, with your orientation, know what I\u2019m talking about. The general public doesn\u2019t. A lot of the media\u2019s making them believe we don\u2019t have any threats out there, and a lot of this is a waste of money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inhofe also struck some conciliatory notes towards Democrats. Inhofe expressed confidence in Congress reaching a bipartisan deal to lift budget caps for the last two years of the Budget Control Act, where caps for discretionary defense spending stand at $542 billion for FY20 and $555 billion for FY21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After trading barbs last week with his soon-to-be counterpart at the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., Inhofe called Smith &#8220;a good man,\u201d who he likes personally. Inhofe had swiped at Smith\u2019s position that modernization of the nuclear triad is unaffordable, but Inhofe said Thursday, \u201cWe\u2019re two different people with two different philosophies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because a recent bipartisan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2018\/11\/14\/a-crisis-of-national-security-new-report-to-congress-sounds-alarm\/\" target=_blank>National Defense Strategy Commission<\/a> report ranked Russian and Chinese strides in nuclear weapons development as a top national security concern, \u201cI think he made a mistake when he singled out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/11\/14\/smith-aims-to-scrap-trumps-nuclear-weapons-policy\/\" target=_blank>nuclear modernization<\/a>,\u201d Inhofe said of Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it was a bad choice and I think it is one he and I can talk about,\u201d Inhofe said. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to see, even though Democrats have control of the House, when it gets down to defending America, we\u2019re going to be much closer together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inhofe literally held up the commission\u2019s report, which paints a dire picture of America\u2019s military edge and calls for added defense spending to maintain it. Inhofe reiterated his plans to prioritize modernization spending to compete with Russia and China \u2014 which have been \u201cbusy\u201d as the U.S. has \u201ctoyed with\u201d nuclear modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inhofe stressed Russia\u2019s investment in hypersonic weapons, but also touted China\u2019s construction of islands in the South China Sea (\u201cThey are everywhere\u201d), touted China\u2019s presence in Africa (\u201cIt\u2019s a very scary thing\u201d), and he claimed China\u2019s navy would outpace America\u2019s in two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked why he considered China a threat when the U.S. defense strategy considers it a competitor, he said, \u201cAnyone who has anything better than we do is a potential threat, and my job is to minimize that.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI\u2019m urging the president to consider\u201d approving a \u201cstrategy-driven budget,\u201d Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe told an audience at National Defense University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":51186,"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":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[38,106,31,33,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3334],"class_list":["post-16674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UVUUBTJFWZGLBPBGV7GZM23IS4","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2018\/12\/06\/inhofe-urging-trump-to-boost-defense-sees-no-strategic-rationale-for-cuts\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Inhofe \u2018urging\u2019 Trump to boost defense, sees \u2018no strategic rationale\u2019 for cuts - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cI\u2019m urging the president to consider\u201d approving a \u201cstrategy-driven budget,\u201d Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe told an audience at National Defense University.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inhofe \u2018urging\u2019 Trump to boost defense, sees \u2018no strategic rationale\u2019 for cuts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI\u2019m urging the president to consider\u201d approving a \u201cstrategy-driven budget,\u201d Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe told an audience at National Defense University.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2018\/12\/06\/inhofe-urging-trump-to-boost-defense-sees-no-strategic-rationale-for-cuts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Federal Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-06T17:22:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:01:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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