The United States has not declared war but you wouldn’t know it from the new military defense budget. The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee approved a proposal to increase spending for the Department of Defense by $37 billion. That is in addition to the $813 billion that President Biden asked for. This brings the total 2023 military budget to $857.46 billion.
Defense against WHO if the U.S. is not at war??? Congress has to vote to declare war!
Last week the Senate approved a $45 billion increase. This $37 billion is new. And it comes from…Who knows?
So what is included in that $37 billion?
Funding for five new ships, eight Boeing F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, five Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules planes, $1 billion for four Patriot missiles, $550 million to send to Ukraine and $2.5 billion to pay for higher fuel costs. It also includes a pay raise for the troops but only at 4.6%. That is pitiful when you consider inflation is currently at 8.5%.
Last year the military budget was shocking when it came in at $778 billion, which was $25 billion more than the President asked for.
This is just a reminder that the United States’ military budget is nearly three times that of China, which is the country with the second-biggest military budget. Despite all of this spending, the U.S. doesn’t even have the world’s largest military. It is the third-largest, behind China and India.
