Democrats on the House and Senate appropriations committees have put pork before much-needed Marine Corps acquisitions that would allow the service to fight more effectively in a war with China. It’s pathetic.

As first reported by Defense News, the 2021 defense bill slashes the Marine Corps’s most important funding requests. The Marines wanted $125 for new cruise missiles, $64 million for research into ground-based anti-ship missiles, and $75 million for research into long-range artillery systems. The latter two of these requests are the key. Instead, Congress has slashed the anti-ship research funding by half and cut $20 million from the long-range artillery request. Then comes the catch: “The bill adds $250 million for two CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift cargo helicopters.”