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Defense leaders are making the rounds of key congressional committees as Congress begins work on the fiscal 2021 budget.
Following a $741 billion defense budget request, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made their first appearance before the House Armed Services Committee last week.
This week, Army, Air Force and National Guard leadership is slated to testify before the House and Senate Armed Services committees and House and Senate defense appropriations subcommittees.
Officials will be defending their budgets while also advocating for congressional support. Among the more controversial issues will be the recent decision to reprogram $3.8 billion from the fiscal 2020 budget to fund a wall on the southern border.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), said the reprogramming undercuts the Pentagon’s argument for increased funding and Congress’ Constitutional responsibilities.
The issue is further complicated by military requests for unfunded requirements that total tens of billions of dollars.
“The message it sends is that the Pentagon’s got plenty of money,” Smith said.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said he supports the need for a wall, but is opposed to taking defense funding without Congress’ approval.
“This is not taking excess funds,” he said. “This is substituting the judgment of the administration for the judgment of Congress.”
Ultimately, Thornberry said greater restrictions may be placed on the military in the future as a response to the reprogramming.
Esper and Milley defended the budget.
Esper said it bolsters space and cyber capabilities and better aligns the force for Great Power Competition.
Milley said the budget is driven by the National Defense Strategy and builds on readiness modernization gains from past budgets.
Both said Guard and Reserve forces were critical components of the Total Force and restated a commitment to provide those forces with the tools and equipment they need to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with their active component counterparts.
Army leaders were slated to testify on their budget to the HASC today, with Air Force leaders following on Wednesday, March 4.
Meanwhile, Gen. Joseph Lengyel, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, will testify to the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee today and then again to the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee on Wednesday, March 4.
