Even freed from spending caps, the Pentagon is forced to live within a tighter budget

The $705 billion plan (plus $26.4 billion from Department of Energy programs) is essentially flat at no growth for inflation, and that said Norquist, necessitated “tough choices and major cuts in some areas in order to free up money. But the result, he said, is a “budget invests in bringing the capabilities of tomorrow to life,” and puts the U.S. “on the path to develop a future force that will prevail in each and every domain.”

BY THE NUMBERS: The Pentagon spending plan is divided into the base budget, plus the extra cost of fighting wars, known as OCO or Overseas Contingency Operations, plus emergency funds for things like repairing hurricane or flood damage from natural disasters.

Last year the White House tried an accounting trick to bypass the spending caps by designating almost $100 billion in base budget as OCO funds. Congress didn’t buy it, but this year they still have $16 billion in warfighting funds going to the base budget.

Here’s how the budget has grown under President Trump, from $670 in 2018 to $712 billion this year.

WHERE THE MONEY GOES: Here are the raw numbers of the president’s plan followed by percentage of overall Pentagon budget:

• Readiness: $125.1 billion (18%)
• Space: $18 billion, including $15.4 billion for the new Space Force (2.5%)
• Cyber: $9.8 billion (1.3%)
• Maritime: $32.3 billion (4.5%)
• Land: $13 billion (1.9%)
• Missile Defense: $20.3 billion (2.8%)
• Nuclear Modernization: $28.9 billion (4%)
• National Nuclear Security Administration (DoE): $19.8 billion (not part of DoD budget)
• Special Operations Forces: $3 billion (.4%)
• Military pay raise of 3%, 1% for civilians $8.7 billion (1.2%)

MAJOR WEAPONS PROGRAMS:

• 79 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters: $11.4 billion
• 24 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets: $2.1 billion
• 12 Boeing F-15EX Advanced Eagles: $1.6 billion
• 15 Boeing KC-46A Tankers: $3 billion
• 9 Boeing V-22 Ospreys: $1.8 billion
• 1 General Dynamics Electric Boat Columbia Class Ballistic Missile Submarine: $4.4 billion
• 1 General Dynamics Electric Boat Virginia Class Fast Attack Submarine: $4.7 billion
• 2 General Dynamic Bath Iron Works Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers: $3.5 billion
• 1 Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding Ford Class Aircraft Carrier: $3 billion continued funding

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Under the president’s plan, Navy shipbuilding takes one of the biggest hits. In FY 2020 the Pentagon funded 14 new ships at a cost of $21.4 billion. This year’s request for $14.3 billion will buy only nine ships. That’s a funding cut of 33% over the current year.

“I am especially concerned that the budget proposal released today does not provide adequate funding to the Navy for shipbuilding, which is necessary to reach our statutory national policy of 355 ships and ensure that our fleet remains unrivaled at sea,” said Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, in a statement. “Specifically, this budget proposes to procure 44 new warships in fiscal years 2021 through 2025, which is 10 ships fewer than planned over the same timeframe in last year’s request.”

Wicker is from Mississippi, where Huntington-Ingalls employs 11,500 workers building destroyers and amphibious assault ships on 800 acres of land along the Pascagoula River.

“These are part of the choices we have to make,” said Vice Adm. Ron Boxall, director of force structure for the joint staff, who said money had to be shifted to operations and maintenance to ensure the current fleet is battle ready. “You divest in those readiness things that I discussed, to kind of operate your force better, and then you have to kind of slow down your rate of acquisition programs to balance the budget.”

“The department remains committed to the 335-ship Navy,” said McCusker, but for now she said there’s a huge focus on readiness. “We don’t want to have a hollow force.”

THE UNKINDEST CUT: Acting Pentagon Comptroller Elaine McCusker confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that Stars and Stripes is facing a possible cutoff of its subsidy from the Department of Defense. McCusker said the funding cut was one of the recommendations of Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s defense-wide review.

“We have essentially decided that, you know, kind of coming into the modern age that newspaper is probably not the best way that we communicate any longer,” she said.

Stars and Stripes, which was first published during the Civil War, is now owned by the Defense Department, but is operated as a source of independent reporting for the troops.

“Stars and Stripes’ mission is not to communicate the DoD or command message, but to be an independent, First Amendment publication that serves the troops — especially deployed troops. So her ‘we communicate’ misses the mission,” tweeted Ernie Gates,the paper’s ombudsman.

The paper is online, but publishes print editions overseas, where increasingly troops are not able to use mobile devices for security reasons. “DOD waging war on its own media – cuts $$ for the military’s independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, first published in 1861,” tweeted Associated Press Pentagon reporter Lolita Baldor, after yesterday’s budget briefing.

Publisher Max Lederer says he was told yesterday that the Pentagon proposed to eliminate operating and maintenance funds for Stars and Stripes, which amounts to about $7 million and about 35% of Stripes’ annual budget, according to the independent paper.

SEE IT ALL FOR YOURSELF: You can find all the Pentagon’s budget documents here.

Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Susan Katz Keating (@SKatzKeating). Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

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HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Mark Esper departs Washington for Europe to attend the NATO Defense Ministerial in Brussels, Belgium and the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

WHAT REPUBLICANS ARE SAYING: A sampling of reaction to the $705 billion Pentagon budget request:

“The topline stipulated by last year’s budget agreement was a compromise with the Democrats that unfortunately left us with less than the amount needed to fulfill the requirements of the National Defense Strategy … The $740.5 billion Fiscal Year 2021 topline for national defense is a real decline after inflation — to the tune of around $15 billion in real purchasing power … commend Secretary Esper and President Trump for prioritizing nuclear modernization, creation of the Space Force, reforms to privatized housing and fundamental improvements to the department’s business operations.” Oklahoma Republican Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“The Secretary’s proposals require Congress to make some tough choices in the coming months. These choices will be consequential, but none of them are so difficult as to justify a continuing resolution. Even a short CR has the effect of cutting billions in military resources at a moment when the Pentagon budget is already under stress. Congress must consider this budget request expeditiously and free from extraneous partisan agendas, make our own policy determinations, and then pass it on time.” Texas Republican Mac Thornberry, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

“While I welcome the President’s efforts to cut wasteful government spending, we must ensure that cuts don’t result in higher costs to taxpayers down the road … During this unprecedented time of global instability, diplomacy must be our first line of defense. As Adm. [Mike] Mullen, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said, ‘the more we cut the International Affairs Budget, the higher the risk for longer and deadlier military operations.’” Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“This budget is a strong step forward in keeping our country safe. I am particularly pleased that the White House is prioritizing nuclear deterrence and requesting the necessary funding to modernize our nuclear arsenal.” Ohio Republican Mike Turner, ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.

WHERE IS THE VA MONEY GOING? Veterans groups were cheered to see that Trump’s FY 2021 budget included a 13% increase to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the only double-digit increase out of all cabinet departments.

But Jeremy Butler, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, expressed concern that there were few details on how this money would be spent. “Full funding of the VA must be combined with sensible solutions to the new and existing challenges faced by our veteran community,” he said, accusing the government of “failing to meet its committment to those who served including veteran mental health and suicide, reforming the VA to help women veterans, or increasing outreach to victims of toxic burn pits.”

ALSO TODAY: Former Army Vice Chief of Staff retired Gen. Jack Keane, who is now chairman of the Institute for the Study of War, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee as part of a panel on the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan at 9:30 a.m. (see calendar below). Live stream at https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings.

And at 2:30 in p.m. John Sopko, the Pentagon’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction or SIGAR will appear along with a panel of experts (see calendar below) before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management hearing on “The Afghanistan Papers.”

‘5,135,’ THE HUMAN TOLL: The testimony comes on the day Sopko releases what is believed to be the first official independent accounting of the total number of people killed, wounded or kidnapped in Afghanistan from 2002 through 2018, while working to rebuild the country and restore peace

Here’s the grim tally of the casualties associated with reconstruction or stabilization missions:

• 5,135 total casualties
• 2,214 killed
• 2,921 wounded
• 1,182 kidnapped or missing
• 284 Americans killed, including, 216 U.S. military and 68 U.S. civilians
• 1,578 Afghans killed, 2,246 wounded, and 1,004 kidnapped.
• 1,447 Afghans killed were civilians, of which 65 were bystanders
• 2,008 Afghans wounded, and 1,003 kidnapped.

TBI NOW 109 FROM IRAN STRIKE: In its latest update on U.S. troops who suffered mild traumatic brain injuries as a result of the Jan. 8 Iranian missile on the Al Asad airbase, the Pentagon now says 109 have been diagnosed with mild TBI, an increase of 45 since the previous report.

Of those, 76 troops have since returned to duty, 27 are in Germany for further evaluation and treatment, and 21 have been brought back to the U.S.

“The Defense Department is steadfast in its efforts to deliver programs and services intended to lead to the best possible outcomes for our service members,” said Alyssa Farah, the Pentagon press secretary. “We are grateful to the efforts of our medical professionals who have worked diligently to ensure the appropriate level of care for our service members, which has enabled nearly 70 percent of those diagnosed to return to duty.”

SQUEEZING IN A WAR POWERS VOTE: It’s another short week for the Congress, with senators planning to leave town Thursday to get a head start on the long Presidents’ Day weekend, but that still might leave time for a vote on Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine’s bill to limit President Trump’s authority to initiate hostilities with Iran.

Kaine said back before impeachment that he had secured the requisite four Republican votes needed to pass the war powers measure.

IRAN’S UNHAPPY 41ST ANNIVERSARY: The group United Against Nuclear Iran is noting that while Iran is commemorating the 41st anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution today, it isn’t exactly a cause for celebration.

“The Iranian regime is reeling from the U.S. maximum pressure campaign. The death of the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Qassem Soleimani; the protests enveloping the country; its downing of the Ukrainian jetliner; its failed satellite launch; and its forces being pummeled by airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have all taken its toll on the regime,” said the group’s chairman former Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Mark Wallace, its CEO.

“However, it would be a mistake to underestimate its ability to weather this storm. The revolution may be severely stressed, but Iran remains an enduring threat to international peace and security,” said the two in a joint statement. “That is why it is time for the international community to join the United States in its maximum pressure campaign. Isolation, rather than integration, is the only way to neutralize the regime’s destabilizing aggression.”

MoH MUSEUM MONUMENT: Representatives of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation are in town this week lobbying for a museum and monument dedicated to the more than 3,500 Americans who have received the nation’s highest award for valor in combat.

Today they are talking to the National Capital Planning Commission about a monument in Washington, and tomorrow they go to Capitol Hill to lobby for a bill that would authorize the monument, “in the District of Columbia or its environs.”

“This project is a remarkable opportunity to, with a single monument, recognize every branch of the military, every battle since the Civil War, every state in the union, every generation since 1863, and individuals from every walk of life in our amazing country,” said Joe Daniels, president and CEO National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. “No other monument proposed to date or which will be proposed in the future encompasses so much of America.”

The nonprofit is also working to build a national Medal of Honor museum in Arlington, Texas.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Moscow ‘cannot ignore’ NATO Readiness Initiative, Russian diplomat says

Washington Examiner: NATO official warns Chinese missiles ‘can reach US and Europe’

Washington Post: Syria and Turkey inch closer to war after shelling kills 5 Turkish soldiers

Breaking Defense: Army Boosts Big Six 26%, But Trims Bradley Replacement

Air Force Magazine: Expected $30 Billion Realignment Not in USAF Budget

Bloomberg: Pentagon Seeks $10.3 Billion to Buy the Stealthy B-21 Raider

Air Force Magazine: Air Force Cancels HCSW Hypersonic Missile in Favor of ARRW

Breaking Defense: Navy Proposes Big Budget Cuts; Rep. Courtney Says It’s DOA

Washington Post: Amazon seeks to depose Trump, Esper in JEDI bid protest

Forbes: Secrecy Shrouds Much Of The Air Force’s Latest Budget

Washington Examiner: Kellyanne Conway says more officials may be ousted in addition to Gordon Sondland and Alex Vindman

New York Times: U.S. Charges Chinese Military Officers in 2017 Equifax Hacking

Tupelo, Miss., Daily Journal: Roger Wicker: New SHIPS Implementation Act Builds Upon Successful Policy

Calendar

TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 11

8 a.m. 2168 Rayburn — Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition Congressional forum on the importance of the U.S. Navy’s amphibious warships, with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger; Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc; Rep. Rob Wittman R-Va.; Rep. Gil Cisneros D-Calif.; Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich; moderated by retired Rear Adm. Sam Perez. https://amphibiouswarship.org/congressional-forum

8 a.m. 400 Courthouse Sq., Alex., Va.— Access Intelligence LLC’s ExchangeMonitor Publications and Forums 2020 Nuclear Deterrence Summit, with Charles Verdon, deputy administrator for defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration; NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty (via video); James McConnell, associate administrator for safety, infrastructure and operations at NNSA. https://www.deterrencesummit.com/

9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on “People’s Republic of China (PRC) Interference in Taiwan’s Elections,” with Taiwan Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang. http://www.csis.org

9:30 a.m. G50, Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on “United States strategy in Afghanistan,” with retired Gen. Jack Keane, chairman, Institute for the Study of War, and former Army Vice Chief of Staff; Colin Jackson, professor, strategy and policy department, Naval War College, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia; retired Army Brig. Gen. Kimberly Field, executive director, Albritton Center for Grand Strategy, Bush School of Government and Public Service, former senior adviser to the commander, Operation Resolute Support. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

11 a.m. 1740 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies hosts SAIS Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies and Duke University’s Program in American Grand Strategy 2020 conference on civil-military relations, “Reflections on Civil-Military Relations: Crises, Comparisons, & Paradoxes.” https://www.eventbrite.com

12:30 p.m. 401 9th St. N.W. — National Capital Planning Commission hears testimony on a proposal to build a national monument to recipients of the Medal of Honor, America’s highest award for valor, with retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady and Maj. Will Swenson, both Medal of Honor and board members National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, as well as NMOHMF CEO Joe Daniels, the former president of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. https://www.ncpc.gov/

12 p.m. 1740 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies 2020 Conference on Civil-Military Relations. https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

2 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing on “Reviewing Department of Defense Strategy, Policy, and Programs for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction for Fiscal Year 2021,” with Al Shaffer, deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and acting assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs; Theresa Whelan, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security; Vice Adm. Timothy Szymanski, deputy commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, and Vayl Oxford, director, Defense Threat Reduction Agency. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

2:30 p.m. 342 Dirksen — Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee hearing on “The Afghanistan Papers: Costs and Benefits of America’s Longest War,” with John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction; Douglas Lute, former U.S. permanent representative to NATO; Richard Boucher, former U.S. ambassador to Cyprus; and retired Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, senior fellow and military expert for Defense Priorities.https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees

2:30 p.m. 2212 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel hearing “Alarming Incidents of White Supremacy in the Military — How to Stop It?” with Heidi Beirich, co-founder and chief strategy officer Global Project Against Hate and Extremism; Mark Pitcavage, senior research fellow, Center on Extremism Anti-Defamation League; Lecia Brooks, chief workplace transformation officer Southern Poverty Law Center; Garry Reid, director for Defense Intelligence Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence; Stephanie Miller, director, Accessions Policy Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; Joe Ethridge, chief, criminal intelligence division U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; Christopher McMahon, executive assistant director, National Security Directorate Naval Criminal Investigative Service; and Robert Grabosky, deputy director, AFOSI Law Enforcement U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

6 p.m. 1030 15th St. N.W. — Atlantic Council discussion “The View from the West Wing,” with national security adviser, Robert O’Brien; and Frederick Kempe, president and CEO of the Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event

WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 12

All Day Brussels, Belgium — Defense Secretary Mark Esper attends meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Defense Ministers at the NATO Headquarters, chaired by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg https://www.nato.int

9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Hwy. Arl, — Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discussion on “An Operational Assessment of the U.S. Air Force, with Lt. Gen. Mark Kelly, Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations. Register at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com

10 a.m. 210 Cannon — House Budget Committee hearing lon President Trump’s FY 2021 budget request, with Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget. https://budget.house.gov/legislation/hearings

10:15 a.m. 419 Dirksen — Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S.-Libya Policy, with testimony from David Schenker, assistant Secretary Of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs; and Christopher Robinson, deputy assistant Secretary of State, Bureau Of European And Eurasian Affairs. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings

2:30 p.m. 2212 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness hearing on “Land Based Ranges: Building Military Readiness While Protecting Natural and Cultural Resources,” with Jordan Gillis, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy, installations, and environment; Todd Mellon, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and environment; and Jennifer Miller, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy installations, and environment. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

3 p.m. 1030 15th St. N.W. — Atlantic Council discussion on a new report, “What do we Know About Cyber Escalation?: Observations from Simulations and Surveys,” with Erica Borghard, assistant professor in the U.S. Military Academy’s Army Cyber Institute; Aaron Brantly, assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s Center for National Security and Technology; Benjamin Jensen, professor of strategic studies at Marine Corps University; and Brandon Valeriano, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event

3:30 p.m. —1030 15th St. N.W. — Atlantic Council discussion on “Everything You Know About Ukraine is Wrong,” with Yevhen Hlibovytsky, partner at Pro Mova; and Melinda Haring, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event

8 p.m. EST University of Texas at San Antonio — Council on Foreign Relations Election 2020 U.S. Foreign Policy Forum, with former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson; former national security adviser Stephen Hadley; former Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Affairs Mary Beth Long;; Margaret Talev, White House and politics editor at Axios; and Richard Haass, president of CFR. Livestream at https://www.cfr.org/event

THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 13

All Day Brussels, Belgium — Day two of NATO Defense ministerial at NATO Headquarters, with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. https://www.nato.int

9 a.m. — Access Intelligence LLC’s ExchangeMonitor Publications and Forums Nuclear Deterrence Summit, with Alan Shaffer, deputy defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment; and Dimitri Kusnezov, deputy energy undersecretary for artificial intelligence. https://www.deterrencesummit.com

9:30 a.m. G50, Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hears testimony from U.S. Northern Commander Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy and U.S. Strategic Commander Adm. Charles Richard on the defense authorization request for Fiscal Year 2021 and the future years defense program. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

11:40 a.m. 1700 Army Navy Dr., Arl.— Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association luncheon discussion, with Paul Puckett, director of the Army’s Enterprise Cloud Management Office; Army Col. Elizabeth “Liz” Casley, chief of staff at the Army Futures Command’s Network Cross Functional Team; and Anthony Robbins, president of AFCEA Washington, D.C. and vice president for the North America public sector at NVIDIA https://dcevents.afceachapters.org/february2020

12 p.m. 1203 Van Munching Hall, College Park, Md. — University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies forum on “Innovation and Its Discontents: National Models of Military Innovation and the Dual-Use Conundrum,” with Amy Nelson, research fellow at the National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction. https://cissm.umd.edu/events

FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 14

All Day, Munich, Germany — Defense Secretary Mark Esper attends the 56th Munich Security Conference will take place at Hotel Bayerischer Hof Friday through Saturday. https://securityconference.org/en/msc-2020

12:30 p.m. 14th and F Sts. N.W. — National Press Club newsmaker luncheon address with Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. https://www.press.org/events/headliners

WEDNESDAY | MARCH 4

9 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. — McAleese Defense Programs Conference. Register at [email protected]