The Pentagon is quietly drafting a $1.1 trillion defense budget, Politico reported on Thursday, citing a defense industry official, two former officials, and another person familiar with the matter.
Such a budget cuts $400 billion from the “supersized” $1.5 trillion budget requested by US President Donald Trump.
According to Politico, the move could indicate what the political field will look like for the Republican Party after the midterm elections.
“The Pentagon can’t admit this,” one of the sources told Politico, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The unprecedented budget is hinged on a process called reconciliation, Politico reported, which would allow Republican lawmakers to add $350 billion to a $1.15 trillion base budget.
The sources told Politico that Pentagon planners are considering what defense programs would be prioritized when faced with the reduced budget.
“None of them expect anywhere close to $1.5 trillion,” one of the former officials said. “They are absolutely developing plans [for less], and that is much more the expectation than anything close to $1.5 trillion.”
Budget cut could hinder US efforts to rebuild depleted weapons stockpiles
The reduced funding could disrupt the US Defense Department’s efforts to enter new defense agreements, continue with existing programs, and potentially affect the pace at which the US rebuilds its weapons stockpiles depleted during the war with Iran.
Citing the Pentagon’s latest estimates, the US’s cost of war with Iran sits at around $47 billion, some $29 billion of which is from critical munitions replacements.
White House budget director Russell Vought reportedly said earlier this month that the Trump administration has no developed alternatives to fund critical Pentagon programs if Congress doesn’t back the White House’s plan.
“Republicans are increasingly angry at the administration on the defense front,” the former official said. It’s “unlikely that anything drastic, a $1.5 trillion budget, would happen.”