The Defense America Needs: Assessing Biden’s Budget Proposal

The Pentagon sent its classified 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS) to Congress on March 28. An unclassified fact sheet summarizing the strategy lists four priorities for the Department of Defense:

1. Defending the homeland
2. Deterring strategic attacks
3. Deterring aggression and prevailing in conflicts
4. Building a resilient Joint Force

The problem is that America’s warfighters will not be able to accomplish those objectives if Washington does not provide our troops the resources, weapons, and training they need.

The Biden administration emphasizes concepts and words such as “integrated deterrence,” “campaigning,” and “building enduring advantages.”

But those words will mean little in practice if Washington doesn’t put its money where its mouth is by coordinating ends, ways, and means and taking urgent action to ensure our troops never confront better armed and prepared adversaries.

So, what’s actually in the Biden administration’s defense budget request?

As the armed services committees markup the annual defense bill this month and as appropriators get to work, which of the administration’s defense proposals should Congress accept, reject, and tweak?

To discuss these and related questions, guest host Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), is joined by Mackenzie Eaglen and RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery.

Mackenzie Eaglen

Mackenzie is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on defense strategy and budgets, as well as military readiness.  She has worked in both the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and served as a staff member on the National Defense Strategy Commission and as a Presidential Management Fellow in the Department of Defense.

RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery

Mark is the senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, previously serving in the U.S. Navy for 32 years. Mark served as policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee under the leadership of Senator John S. McCain.

Securing the High Ground

Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. in conversation with Bradley Bowman

December 13, 2021

The Growing Missile Threat in the Pacific and American Missile Defense

U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jon A. Hill in conversation with Bradley Bowman

December 6, 2021

The National Defense Strategy America Needs

A conversation with Bradley Bowman, Bryan Clark, Mackenzie Eaglen, Gordon Lubold, and Thomas Spoehr

October 18, 2021