Obama's Defense Budget Well Below Gates's Proposal

President Obama’s proposed defense budget is well below what former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates proposed.

“The debate over defense spending is now focused on two figures: the $534 billion that President Obama has requested for the Defense Department in fiscal year (FY) 2016, and the $498 billion cap that the Pentagon faces under a law known as the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). A third number should be even more important, however: the $611 billion that former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates estimated the Defense Department will actually need in the coming fiscal year,” Christopher Griffin of the Foreign Policy Initiative details.