Members of Congress had mixed reactions to President Donald Trump’s request Friday to increase defense spending to $1.5 trillion in the 2027 fiscal year, with Republicans welcoming the unprecedented budget proposal and Democrats panning it. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress had mixed reactions to President Donald Trump’s request Friday to increase defense spending to $1.5 trillion in the 2027 fiscal year, with Republicans welcoming the unprecedented budget proposal and Democrats panning it.
The budget request asks Congress to approve $1.15 trillion through its annual appropriations process and enact the remaining $350 billion through a legislative tactic known as reconciliation, which allows Republicans to bypass the need for Democratic votes in the Senate.
Together, the amount would mark the highest level of funding for defense in modern history and give the Defense Department a 44% funding increase from the last fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1.
The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees described the $1.5 trillion top line as a “historic” investment in countering adversaries around the globe and said they were committed to passing the proposed budget into law.
“This bold commitment provides the resources needed to rebuild American military capability and confront those challenges head-on,” Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama and Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi said in a joint statement.
They noted that the proposed funding will drive the U.S. toward a defense budget that makes up 5% of the nation’s gross domestic product — a benchmark spending level that the U.S. has demanded of its NATO allies.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, said he welcomed significant growth in annual appropriations for the military but expressed unease with using the budget reconciliation process to again top up the Pentagon’s coffers.
Republicans used the same tactic last year to give the Defense Department an additional $150 billion on top of its base annual budget.
“Budget reconciliation, for its part, can only supplement — not replace — the consistent demand signals necessary to secure the private sector investments necessary to adequately expand and modernize our defense industrial base,” McConnell said. “Regular order appropriations are the right way to meet the scale and scope of the requirements of our military.”
Defense appropriators will remain focused on the annual funding process, he said, but they also stand ready for a request for supplemental appropriations. The White House is expected to soon seek an additional $200 billion from Congress to fund military operations in Iran.
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said Trump’s defense budget request reflects his panel’s priorities, including pay raises for junior enlisted service members, investment in munitions production and increased shipbuilding.
The budget request calls for a 7% pay boost for the most junior enlisted ranks, a 6% pay raise for midlevel enlisted troops and junior officers and a 5% pay increase for all higher officer ranks.
It also proposes spending $65.8 billion on shipbuilding — an investment that will establish Trump’s “Golden Fleet” as waters around the world become more contested, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House.
“It is essential to America’s national security that Congress provides the right resources, in terms of both quality and quantity, to confront the threats we face today and tomorrow,” Calvert said.
Democrats, however, slammed the proposed spending plan as unrealistic and vowed to oppose it.
“This is not a serious budget,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “From what little information we have, this flawed, irresponsible proposal is unjustified and fails to acknowledge the negative impacts of Trump’s Iran war and faltering economy.”
He said he would not rubber stamp a “bloated, undisciplined budget” and said the Pentagon lacked responsible leadership and management, not funding.
Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, also denounced the proposed budget, describing it as “morally bankrupt,” and said she would ensure Congress wrote a new one instead. To offset the funding increase in defense, Trump is proposing cutting domestic spending by $73 billion.
“Our national defense budget should not be dictated by a president who is sending service members into harm’s way in reckless foreign war — and who woke up one day and decided to send his aides scrambling to figure out how on earth they could spend half a trillion dollars more, which the Pentagon can’t possibly spend responsibly,” Murray said.
The Defense Department is expected to release specifics on the budget request later this month.
