In a message penned to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith on Monday, 27 Democrats asked that fiscal 2022 not exceed President Joe Biden’s appeal of $715 billion for the Department of Defense.
The organization, led by Reps. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Barbara Lee of California, led to the imminent U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the expanded domestic social welfare needs, claiming lawmakers should cut military spending “now more than ever” and give funding to combating poverty and climate change instead.
Lawmakers delivered the letter to Smith on the same day the Washington Democrat released his own budget mark for fiscal 2022 defense spending.
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Smith requests for $716 billion in base defense spending, adjusting his top-line number almost with the Biden administration’s 2022 request.
Still, the House bill proposes a lower number than the Senate’s defense spending, written by both Republicans and Democrats and enacted in the Senate Armed Services Committee in July.
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Senate Democrats control the majority but need at least 10 Republicans to advance most legislation, including the spending support measures.
The Senate Armed Services Committee announced an authorization measure that presents more than $740 billion to the Defense Department, which is $25 billion more than both Biden or House lawmakers are seeking.
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House and Senate lawmakers will eventually have to work out a settlement that can pass both chambers.
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But House Democrats could provide a significant barrier if they counter the final agreement.
The letter Pocan and Lee sent to Smith on Monday is signed by 25 additional Democrats, more than enough to drop a bill they believe spends too much if no Republicans support it.
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They urged the Senate bipartisan Defense authorization spending is far too high.
“This number is above and beyond the more than one percent increase in funding requested by President Biden and approved by the House Appropriations Committee,” Lee and Pocan wrote to Smith. “Surpassing the President’s request by such a large and unwarranted amount should not be the starting position of the House Armed Services Committee, particularly when current defense spending levels should already be reduced.”
House Republicans urged Smith to meet the Senate spending level when the board votes to push the measure in a virtual markup this week.
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House Armed Service Committee ranking member Mike Rogers of Alabama filed an amendment to Smith’s measure on Monday seeking a $25 billion increase. Rogers called upon the National Defense Strategy Commission, a bipartisan group that recommended increasing defense spending to at least 3% above the inflation rate.
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Rogers called Biden’s $715 billion proposals that the House has largely matched “wholly inadequate” and said it would leave American troops vulnerable and the United States prone to threats from China, Russia, and other adversaries.
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