Republicans criticized the Pentagon’s fiscal 2017 budget request released Tuesday, saying it is “inadequate” to address the threats facing the military.
Even though the administration followed the top numbers agreed upon by lawmakers in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, members of Congress said the top line in the president’s request should be higher to reflect current threats that have changed since the deal was reached last year.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called the budget “inadequate,” noting that it came in $17 billion under what the president predicted he would need for fiscal 2017 in last year’s budget.
“Rather than request an increase in defense spending that reflects what our military really needs, the president’s request attempts to pay for these increased costs by shorting other important defense needs — cutting 15,000 current Army soldiers and 4,000 sailors, reducing major modernization programs, and proposing a pay increase for service members much lower than what is needed to compete with private sector wages,” McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., criticized the Navy’s planned cut to the littoral combat ship program from 52 ships overall to 40, saying that the president and Defense Secretary Ash Carter “just don’t get it.” He promised, as have other lawmakers, to work with colleagues to restore cuts to the program.
“Since my first day in Congress, I have been working with my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee and throughout the House to build support for this important program. That’s why I’m confident Congress will reject this flawed proposal from a lame-duck president and a lame-duck secretary of defense,” he said.
One of the variants of the littoral combat ship is built by Austal USA in Byrne’s home district.
Liberal lawmakers were more likely to praise the administration’s $587.2 billion request for defense. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called it a “solid blueprint.”
He urged his GOP colleagues to at least keep an open mind and allow Obama’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, Shaun Donovan, to testify. The OMB director historically testifies before Congress on the budget request, but some Republicans have already said they will not invite him this year.
“Members of Congress may disagree about the budget, but I am disappointed some are trying to stifle debate,” Reed said in a statement. “Even if they disagree with the president, they shouldn’t shut the process down. The American people deserve better.”
