{"id":34066,"date":"2024-05-29T20:10:14","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T20:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/05\/29\/powerful-gop-senator-eyes-ships-jets-nukes-in-defense-spending-surge\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:31:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:31:21","slug":"powerful-gop-senator-eyes-ships-jets-nukes-in-defense-spending-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2024\/05\/29\/powerful-gop-senator-eyes-ships-jets-nukes-in-defense-spending-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerful GOP senator eyes ships, jets, nukes in defense spending surge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee has released a detailed plan calling for an additional $55 billion above the fiscal 2025 defense spending caps imposed under last year\u2019s debt ceiling deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The plan, unveiled Wednesday by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., would ultimately raise U.S. defense spending from 3% to 5% of gross domestic product in the years ahead, a massive surge likely to come in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2024\/03\/07\/a-nearly-1-trillion-defense-budget-faces-headwinds-at-home-and-abroad\/#:~:text=As%20the%20Pentagon%20seeks%20to,and%20where%20it's%20falling%20short.\" target=\"_blank\">well above $1 trillion per year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Much of the proposed long-term spending in Wicker\u2019s plan would go toward revitalizing the struggling defense-industrial base, which the senator argues is necessary to successfully counter an \u201caxis of aggressors\u201d comprised of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He hopes additional industrial base funding will enable the U.S. to drastically bolster the size of its Navy and Air Force fleets as well as munitions production and the nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis will enable the United States to fix our failing defense infrastructure, field a new generation of equipment and maintain American technological leadership,\u201d Wicker wrote in the proposal. \u201cThis [3%] of GDP spent on defense is nearing historic lows not seen since the peace dividend of the 1990s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The document lays out many of Wicker\u2019s short- and long-term priorities as the Senate Armed Services Committee prepares to mark up its FY25 defense policy bill next month. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2024\/05\/23\/house-advances-884-billion-defense-bill-with-enlisted-troop-pay-raise\/#:~:text=House%20advances%20%24884%20billion%20defense%20bill%20with%20enlisted%20troop%20pay%20raise,-By%20Bryant%20Harris&#038;text=The%20House%20on%20Wednesday%20night,and%20Air%20Force%20procurement%20plans.\" target=\"_blank\">House Armed Services Committee advanced its defense policy legislation last week<\/a>, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2024\/05\/14\/house-defense-bill-retains-spending-caps-creates-dod-talent-officer\/#:~:text=House%20defense%20bill%20retains%20spending%20caps%2C%20creates%20DoD%20talent%20officer,-By%20Bryant%20Harris&#038;text=The%20House%20Armed%20Services%20Committee's,the%20measure%20released%20on%20Monday.\" target=\"_blank\">$883.7 billion bill<\/a> in line with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/budget\/2023\/05\/29\/debt-ceiling-agreement-locks-in-bidens-proposed-defense-budget\/#:~:text=Debt%20ceiling%20agreement%20locks%20in%20Biden's%20proposed%20defense%20budget,-By%20Bryant%20Harris&#038;text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%94%20The%20debt%20ceiling%20agreement,3.3%25%20increase%20over%20this%20year.\" target=\"_blank\">the FY25 defense spending caps lawmakers agreed to last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the additional $55 billion Wicker seeks to add above the FY25 spending caps mirrors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2024\/03\/19\/pacific-forces-wish-list-seeks-11-billion-more-than-defense-proposal\/#:~:text=Pacific%20force's%20wish%20list%20seeks%20%2411%20billion%20more%20than%20defense%20proposal,-By%20Bryant%20Harris&#038;text=U.S.%20Indo%2DPacific%20Command%20is,list%20it%20submitted%20last%20year.\" target=\"_blank\">the unfunded priorities lists <\/a>each military service and combatant command submitted to Congress earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For instance, Wicker wants an additional $2 billion to \u201cdisperse and harden [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] infrastructure,\u201d another $2.25 billion for \u201cGuam disaster recovery and resilient rebuild,\u201d and $500 million for a Guam defense system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, Wicker is seeking $500 million to create \u201cregional contingency stockpiles\u201d to help Indo-Pacific Command overcome logistical challenges in the event of a conflict in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPrepositioned stocks generally must be expanded in the western Pacific,\u201d the document notes. \u201cIn particular, the Army Prepositioned Stocks program has been perennially underfunded \u2014 by almost $1 billion this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wicker\u2019s proposal also calls on the Pentagon to create a weapons stockpile in Taiwan, which Congress authorized in the FY23 defense bill, mirroring the U.S. war reserve stockpile in Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also seeks to allocate $1.5 billion in replenishment funds to allow the Defense Department to send Taiwan weapons from U.S. stockpiles. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2024\/04\/24\/congress-sends-ukraine-israel-taiwan-aid-package-to-presidents-desk\/\" target=\"_blank\">foreign aid bill Congress passed in April<\/a> included $1.9 billion in FY24 funding for the department to do this, but the House defense policy bill did not include an additional $500 million in FY25 Taiwan aid that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2024\/05\/21\/pentagon-asks-congress-for-indo-pacific-security-assistance-initiative\/#:~:text=The%20Defense%20Department%20is%20proposing,program%20used%20to%20arm%20Ukraine.\" target=\"_blank\">the Pentagon asked for as part of its proposed Indo-Pacific Security Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, lead the defense appropriations panel and have also said they want to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2024\/05\/08\/senate-defense-panel-faces-uphill-battle-in-ditching-debt-ceiling-caps\/\" target=\"_blank\">increase FY25 defense spending above the debt ceiling deal\u2019s FY25 spending caps<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said earlier this month that if defense spending rises, she will insist that nondefense spending also grow, which Republicans have historically opposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Total defense spending for FY24 came in at $953 billion following passage of the foreign aid bill, well above the $886 billion national security caps Congress laid out in the base budget for that fiscal year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 5% target<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the longer term, Wicker\u2019s proposal to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP places particular emphasis on growing the defense-industrial base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe defense industrial base itself is a weapon,\u201d the proposal states. \u201cThe Department of Defense needs a much larger and more capable workforce for defense industrial base issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2023\/06\/13\/key-lawmakers-flex-new-positions-to-bolster-shipbuilding-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\">For surface ships<\/a>, the Navy needs to embark immediately upon a comprehensive industrial base investment strategy, just as it has done for the submarine industrial base,\u201d it continues. \u201cAs with the submarine industrial base, this investment strategy will require around $20 billion over a period of five years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These funds would go toward \u201cextensive funding for workforce development, supply chain resiliency, long-lead item production, development and insertion of additive manufacturing techniques, supplier base diversification and shipyard modernization and expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wicker also calls on the Navy to \u201cbegin work on a fifth nuclear shipyard, which will likely cost over $20 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The document faults the Navy for failing \u201cto provide a consistent demand signal to industry\u201d but argues that with the right funding it can meet and even exceed the 355-ship goal by 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, it notes \u201cthe Air Force plans to retire almost 1,000 aircraft over the next five years, including nearly 400 fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt has not replaced its aircraft fast enough to keep the fleet from shrinking precipitously, even as the mission demands remain steady or increase,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Accordingly, Wicker\u2019s proposal calls on the Air Force to purchase \u201cat least 340\u2033 aircraft above its current plan over the next five years while accelerating production of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2023\/01\/10\/building-a-better-bomber-how-the-stealthy-b-21-subverted-bureaucracy\/\" target=\"_blank\">B-21 bombers<\/a> and doubling its planned quantity from 100 to 200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Air Force should aim to arrest its shrinking fighter force structure by reversing its plans to retire capable F-15E and F-22 fighters over the next five years and by purchasing at least 340 aircraft above its current plans over the next five years,\u201d the proposal notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, the document cites \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/30\/soaring-us-munitions-demand-strains-support-for-israel-ukraine-taiwan\/\" target=\"_blank\">a well-known shortage of munitions<\/a> that will require both additional funding and additional creativity to remedy.\u201d It calls for an additional $7 billion to $10 billion annually for the munitions-industrial base over the next decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The document also details a series of industrial base recommendations to grow the U.S. nuclear arsenal. These include extended production of the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine; setting up NATO-style nuclear burden-sharing agreements with Australia, Japan and South Korea; and restoring nuclear capability on B-52 bombers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wicker has also co-sponsored <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2024\/04\/26\/senators-push-to-update-nuclear-military-might-in-defense-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\">a bill to expand the U.S. nuclear arsenal<\/a>. The legislation\u2019s other sponsor, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., hopes to include it in the Senate\u2019s FY25 defense policy bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Wicker&#8217;s plan lays out an additional $55 billion above FY25 defense spending caps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":118890,"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":[8477,8481,8478],"coauthors":[3230],"class_list":["post-34066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight","tag-china","tag-north-korea","tag-taiwan"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"IJ5TXBI7BBHMFNT3WEYH3BDZHU","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/budget\/2024\/05\/29\/powerful-gop-senator-eyes-ships-jets-nukes-in-defense-spending-surge\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"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>Powerful GOP senator eyes ships, jets, nukes in defense spending surge - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sen. 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