• The White House and Congress say China poses the greatest national security threat to the United States, but their actions on defense spending are undermining promises to strengthen our national defense in-kind. experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
• The Biden administration plans to submit an $850 billion defense budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2025 that would significantly reduce programs focused on the Pacific, according to a congressional aide.
• “The White House and Congress have shown reluctance to significantly increase or prioritize defense spending. As a result, we find ourselves in the worst of both worlds. I realized that,” Alex Velez Green, senior policy advisor at the Heritage Foundation, told DCNF.

Despite all the fuss from the White House and both sides of Congress about the existential necessity of defeating China militarily, no country seems willing to follow through on its commitments.

The Biden administration plans to ask Congress for about $850 billion in funding for the U.S. military in fiscal year 2025, roughly the amount Congress enacted for fiscal year 2023, according to a congressional aide. While the U.S. military falls further behind in efforts to reposition itself in the Pacific, neither Congress nor the White House appear willing to put taxpayer dollars where the threat exists, experts tell Daily Caller News Foundation told.

“A budget is a statement of priorities, and this budget shows that the Biden administration, despite its rhetoric and strategy documents, is not prioritizing.” [People’s Republic of China] It's a threat,” Alex Gray, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Policy and former National Security Council official, told DCNF. (Related: Exclusive: 'Big hit': Decline in white recruits fuels worst recruiting crisis in military history, data shows)

In March 2023, Biden's Pentagon requested $842 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2024.Congress ultimately raised The National Defense Authorization Act enacted in December of the same year increased the budget to $886.3 billion.

The proposal is expected to be about $850 billion in 2025, nearly $10 billion less than the Pentagon expected when it submitted its budget estimates in 2023, according to the document. show.

“This request demonstrates a fundamental lack of seriousness by the Biden administration in dealing with the greatest geopolitical threat it has ever faced: the Chinese Communist Party,” Gray told DCNF.

China has made “extraordinary” progress in all areas of warfare, he added. Under dictator Xi Jinping, China has supersized its deep-sea navy, giving it the ability to project power far beyond its shores and closing the gap with the United States. The Pentagon believes China will have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by the end of the year. Ten years, according to Mandated a Pentagon report on China's security developments released in October.

Biden's National Security Strategy, a document that sets out the administration's national security priorities, states that “The People's Republic of China is the United States' only competitor with the intent and, increasingly, the ability to reshape the international order.'' It's my opponent.'' state.

“The White House and Congress have shown reluctance to significantly increase or prioritize defense spending. As a result, we have the worst of both worlds. ,” Alex Velez Green, senior policy advisor at the Heritage Foundation's Allison Center, told DCNF.

According to reports, the Pentagon plans to cut some programs considered essential to deterrence against China.White House budget proposal calls for enough funding for one Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine, USNI News reportThis is what three sources familiar with the proposal said. Over the past several years, the Navy has consistently ordered two boats.

USNI News reported that the company cited a lack of shipyard capacity as the reason for the layoffs. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said Previously, the industry needed constant demand signals to give confidence in investing in production capacity, but recently reprimanded Companies that appear to prioritize stock buybacks over taxpayer dollars.

The Virginia-class boats are the linchpin of an agreement involving the US, UK and Australia aimed at strengthening Australia's naval deterrence against an aggressive China. According to USNI News, the deal calls for the United States to sell three to five submarines to Australia and requires naval shipyards to build an average of 2.33 submarines a year.

“Attack submarines are the crown jewel of the U.S. military and essential to deterring China. Production cuts weaken America's power. We cannot afford to let our deterrent capabilities fall short at this dangerous time,” the Senate Armed Services Committee said. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, said in a statement when the rumors surfaced.

Other cuts may also appear.

The Air Force will lose 18% of its fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets it planned to buy in 2025 as a result of Pentagon cost-cutting efforts next year, Reuters reportThis was reported by two sources familiar with the situation. Instead of adding 83 F-35s, the Air Force could save $1.6 billion by purchasing just 70 F-35s.

Funds for Indo-Pacific Command military operations, construction of key infrastructure such as ports and forward supply bases, construction of Guam's defense network to protect against Chinese ballistic missiles, and other programs were also removed from the budget request, Congress said. the aide said. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the proposal, which has not yet been made public, he told DCNF. (Related: US moves to restore major World War II-era military bases in 2023 in preparation for showdown with China)

Most of the programs rumored to be cut at the administration's request are a direct result of budget constraints, congressional aides told DCNF.

“We do not intend to pre-empt the president's budget announcement,” a Pentagon spokesperson told DCNF.

wicker, busy He said at an event at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank that he expects defense spending to reach 5% of the U.S. gross domestic product, roughly in line with inflation. In recent years, it is fluctuated Within 3% to 4% of GDP.

But even if Biden wanted to increase spending beyond what Congress authorized in 2023, he won't be able to exceed $895 billion next fiscal year, thanks to the debt limitation agreement Congress passed over the summer. Dew.

The agreement set a two-year cap on annual defense spending, bringing it to just under $900 billion in the second year, fiscal year 2025.

A majority of Democrats and influential House Republicans supported a compromise that would raise the debt ceiling to avoid default while making concessions to conservatives. Senate Republicans criticized the bill as setting a defense spending cap too low, while former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy opposed any effort to raise the cap.

Officials say inflation, automatic increases in military pay and the cost of expanding operations in the Middle East are forcing the Pentagon to make difficult decisions.

The Pentagon has “a bill to pay for its personnel and the care of its people,” says Politico. reportsaid a US official. “So if investments are restricted in the coming years, modernization investments will naturally suffer, or at least be properly promoted.”

“The most important thing the United States can do to deter China is prioritize,” Beres-Green told DCNF. “Even if we increase defense spending, we must focus a greater proportion of our military and defense industrial power on deterring China if we are to avoid war or win if deterrence fails.” It must be done.”

Mr. Xi has promised to have a military ready for large-scale combat by 2027. Mr. Xi has not promised to invade Taiwan by a specific date, but he has made clear his intention to seize the semi-autonomous, democratically ruled island by force if necessary.

The White House did not respond to DCNF's request for comment.

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