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{{Short description|Yearly spending of the United States military}}
{{U.S. Deficit and Debt Topics}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2023}}
[[File:U.S - China - Russia, Military Spending.svg|thumb|300px|Military budget of [[China]], [[USSR]], [[Russia]] and US in constant 2021 US$ billions]]
[[File:Military spending % of revenue.webp|thumb|300px|Military spending as a percent of [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] revenue]]


The [[military budget]] is that portion of the [[United States]] discretionary [[United States federal budget|federal budget]] that is allocated to the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]], or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any defense-related expenditures. This [[military budget]] pays the salaries, training, and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new equipment. The budget funds all branches of the U.S. military: [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], and [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]].
The '''military budget of the United States''' is the largest portion of the discretionary [[United States federal budget|federal budget]] allocated to the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] (DoD), or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. The [[military budget]] pays the salaries, training, and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new items. The budget funds six branches of the [[US military]]: the [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]], [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], and [[United States Space Force|Space Force]].


==Budget for 2010==
==Budget for FY2025==
{{anchor|fy2025BudgetRequest}}
For the 2010 fiscal year, the president's base budget of the Department of Defense rose to $533.8 billion. Adding spending on "overseas contingency operations" brings the sum to $663.8 billion.<ref name="Budget FY2010">[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/summary.pdf Updated Summary Tables, Budget of the United States Government Fiscal Year 2010 (Table S.12)]</ref><ref name="gpoaccess.gov">http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/pdf/budget/defense.pdf</ref>
As of 11 March 2024 the US Department of Defense [[fiscal year]] 2025 (FY2025) budget request was $849.8{{nbsp}}billion.{{efn|name="FY2025Req" |1= FY2025<ref name=ppbr25>US Department of Defense [https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3703410/department-of-defense-releases-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2025-defense-budget/ (11 March 2024) Department of Defense Releases the President's Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Budget]</ref><ref name= comptDoD >DoD Comptroller [https://comptroller.defense.gov/Budget-Materials/Budget2025/ (March 2024) Mar 2024 Budget]</ref><ref name= austinBrownTestimony >C. Todd Lopez, DOD News [https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3703410/department-of-defense-releases-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2025-defense-budget/ (8 May 2024) Austin: FY 2025 Budget Includes 'Tough, But Responsible' Decisions]</ref><!--ref name= > [ ( ]</ref>-->}}


==Budget for FY2024==
When the budget was signed into law on October 28, 2009, the final size of the Department of Defense's budget was $680 billion, $16 billion more than President Obama had requested.<ref name="White House FY2010">[http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-signing-national-defense-authorization-act-fiscal-year-2010, ''Remarks by the President at the Signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010]</ref><ref name="Senate FY2010">[http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/64377-senate-to-vote-on-defense-bill#, ''Senate OKs defense bill, 68-29]</ref> [[Michael Mullen|Adm. Mike Mullen]], the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expected an additional supplemental spending bill, possibly in the range of $40&ndash;50 billion, by the Spring of 2010 in order to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/world/05military.html The New York Times, ''Pentagon Expected to Request More War Funding'']</ref> Defense-related expenditures outside of the Department of Defense constitute between $216 billion and $361 billion in additional spending, bringing the total for defense spending to between $880 billion and $1.03 trillion in fiscal year 2010.<ref name="Higgs">{{cite web | author = [[Robert Higgs]] | title = The Trillion-Dollar Defense Budget Is Already Here | url = http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1941 | accessdate = March 15, 2007 }}</ref>
{{anchor|fy2024BudgetRequest}}
As of 10 March 2023 the [[fiscal year]] 2024 (FY2024) presidential budget request was $842{{nbsp}}billion.{{efn|name="FY2024Agreement" |1= FY2024<ref name="ppbe24">Ashley Roque [https://breakingdefense.com/2023/03/white-house-requests-842-billion-to-fund-pentagon-in-2024/ (10 March 2023) White House requests $842 billion to fund Pentagon in 2024] PPBE "request to Congress includes $6{{nbsp}}billion to support Ukraine, NATO, and other European partner states, and $9.1{{nbsp}}billion for DoD's Pacific Deterrence Initiative".</ref><ref name="separateUkrFundingPast24">Marcus Weisgerber [https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2023/03/heres-everything-we-know-about-pentagons-2024-budget-proposal/383892/ (13 Mar 2023) The Pentagon's 2024 Budget Proposal, In Short] "The spending plan includes $315{{nbsp}}billion to develop and buy new weapons". "$300 million in security assistance" for Ukraine.</ref><ref name="modern24">Marcus Weisgerber [https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2023/03/bidens-842b-pentagon-budget-proposal-would-boost-new-weapons/383820/ (9 March 2023) Biden's $842B Pentagon Budget Proposal Would Boost New Weapons]</ref><ref name="ppbe11Jul22" /><ref name="ppbe2024Army" /><ref name="machineTooling" /><ref name="indoPacomPpbe24">Justin Katz [https://breakingdefense.com/2023/03/us-indo-pacific-command-seeks-15-3-billion-in-new-independent-budget-request/ (9 March 2023) US Indo-Pacific Command seeks $15.3 billion in new, independent budget request] $4{{nbsp}}billion more than FY23 request</ref><ref name="ppbe2024Navy">Courtney Albon [https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2023/03/11/white-house-asks-for-11-billion-more-for-navy-marine-corps-spending/ (11 March 2023) White House asks for $11 billion more for Navy, Marine Corps spending]</ref><ref name="dafBudgetReq">Department of the Air Force [https://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/FM-Resources/Budget/Air-Force-Presidents-Budget-FY24/ (April 2023) Air Force President's Budget FY24] request is $215.1{{nbsp}}billion dollars, a $9.3B or 4.5% increase over the FY23 enacted amount</ref><ref name="army2030AtRisk">Jen Judson [https://www.defensenews.com/land/2023/04/19/army-warns-it-could-lose-53-billion-if-congress-fails-to-pass-budget/ (19 Apr 2023) Army warns it could lose $5.3 billion if Congress fails to pass budget] before a Continuing Resolution occurs</ref> agreement was reached Saturday 27 May 2023.<ref name="twoYearAgreement2023">Jim Tankersley, Catie Edmondson and Luke Broadwater ''[[The New York Times]]'' [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/us/politics/debt-ceiling-deal.html (27 May 2023) White House and G.O.P. Strike Debt Limit Deal to Avert Default]</ref> The Senate agreed to the debt ceiling arrangement for 2023-2025 on 2 June 2023.<ref name="debtCeilingFix2Year">Nicola Slawson [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/02/first-thing-us-debt-ceiling-deal-passes-senate-averting-catastrophic-federal-default (2 Jun 2023) First Thing: US debt ceiling deal passes Senate, averting catastrophic federal default ]</ref> }} In January 2023 Treasury Secretary [[Janet Yellen]] announced the US government would hit its $31.4{{nbsp}}trillion [[debt ceiling]] on 19 January 2023;<ref name="31teraUSD">{{Cite news |last1=Morgan |first1=David |last2=Lawder |first2=David |date=2023-01-20 |title=U.S. hits debt ceiling as partisan standoff sparks economic worries |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-govt-touches-debt-limit-amid-standoff-between-republicans-democrats-2023-01-19/ |access-date=2023-08-18}}</ref> the date on which the US government would no longer be able to use [[United States debt ceiling#Extraordinary measures|extraordinary measures]] such as issuance of [[Treasury securities]] is estimated to be in June 2023.<ref name="yellen">Victor Reklaitis [https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-to-hit-debt-limit-thursday-heres-what-it-means-11673983940 (17 January 2023) U.S. to hit debt limit Thursday: Here's what that means]
*Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget [https://www.crfb.org/papers/qa-everything-you-should-know-about-debt-ceiling (28 Oct 2022) Q&A: Everything You Should Know About the Debt Ceiling]
*Stephen Collinson [https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/politics/biden-ukraine-new-tipping-point/index.html (18 Jan 2023) Russia's war in Ukraine reaches a critical moment] in [[power projection]] in light of the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]]</ref> On 3 June 2023, the debt ceiling was suspended until 2025.<ref name="dorn">{{Cite web |last=Dorn |first=Sara |title=Biden Signs Debt Ceiling Bill Into Law—Lifts Borrowing Limit Until 2025 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/06/03/biden-signs-debt-ceiling-bill-into-law-lifts-borrowing-limit-until-2025/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=Forbes |language=en}} [[Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023]]</ref> The $886{{nbsp}}billion [[2024 NDAA|National Defense Authorization Act]] is facing reconciliation of the [[United States House of Representatives|House]] and [[United States Senate|Senate]] bills after passing both houses 27 July 2023; the conferees have to be chosen, next.<ref name="facingReconcil2023">{{Cite web |last=Katz |first=Justin |date=2023-07-28 |title=Ducking the culture wars, Senate passes NDAA 86-11 |url=https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2023/07/ducking-the-culture-wars-senate-passes-ndaa-86-11/ |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Breaking Defense |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="ndaa2023">{{Cite web |last1=O'Brien |first1=Connor |last2=Gould |first2=Joe |date=2023-07-02 |title=The Pentagon policy bill's next big stumbling block: Kevin McCarthy |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/02/pentagon-policy-ndaa-kevin-mccarthy-00104466 |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=[[Politico]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="harris2023">{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Bryant |date=2023-06-23 |title=Senate defense bill pushes for spending over debt ceiling cap |url=https://www.defensenews.com/congress/budget/2023/06/23/senate-defense-bill-pushes-for-spending-over-debt-ceiling-cap/ |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref> As of September 2023, a [[Continuing resolution]] is needed to prevent a [[Government shutdowns in the United States|Government shutdown]].<ref name= 2023ShutdownThreat >Bryant Harris [https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2023/09/13/freedom-caucus-derails-pentagon-spending-bill-foreshadowing-shutdown/ (13 Sep 2023) Freedom Caucus derails Pentagon spending bill, foreshadowing shutdown] 30 Sep 2023 is looming date for shutdown.
*Sahil Kapur [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-republicans-government-funding-bill-risk-collapse-rcna105706?cid=referral_taboolafeed (18 Sep 2023) Far-right Republicans drafted a short-term funding bill with GOP centrists. It’s now at risk of collapse.]</ref><ref name= demRepCoalitionLikely >Reuters [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-republicans-look-restart-spending-agenda-with-defense-vote-2023-09-21/ (21 Sep 2023) Shutdown looms as US House Republicans again block own spending bill]</ref><ref name= whatShutdownAffects >Reuters [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-republicans-look-restart-spending-agenda-with-defense-vote-2023-09-21/ (21 Sep 2023) US government shutdown: What closes, what stays open?] See [[Government shutdowns in the United States]]</ref> A shutdown was avoided on 30 September for 45 days (until 17 November 2023),<ref name= houseCr23 >Alexandra Hutzler and Nadine El-Bawab [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/government-shutdown-live-updates/?id=103597144 (30 Sep 2023) Government shutdown live updates: House passes 45-day stopgap spending bill]</ref><ref name= senatCr23 >Clare Foran, Haley Talbot, Morgan Rimmer, Annie Grayer, Lauren Fox and Melanie Zanona, CNN [https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/30/politics/us-government-shutdown-latest/index.html (30 Sep 2023) Congress passes stopgap bill to avert shutdown ahead of midnight deadline]</ref><ref name= 2Crs >Rebecca Kheel [https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/11/15/congress-has-plan-avert-shutdown-its-about-make-pentagon-budgeting-even-more-complicated.html (15 Nov 2023) Congress Has Plan to Avert Shutdown, But It's About to Make Pentagon Budgeting Even More Complicated]</ref><ref name= defenseAuthExpected >Leo Shane III [https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2023/12/04/defense-authorization-deal-expected-this-week/ (3 Dec 2023) Defense authorization deal expected this week]</ref> with passage of the NDAA on 14 December 2023.<ref name= zengerle23 >Patricia Zengerle [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-lawmakers-introduce-sweeping-defense-bill-drop-most-culture-war-issues-2023-12-07/ (7 Dec 2023) US lawmakers introduce sweeping defense bill, drop most 'culture war' issues]; Patricia Zengerle [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/majority-us-senate-backs-mammoth-defense-policy-bill-voting-continues-2023-12-14/ (13 Dec 2023) US Senate passes mammoth defense policy bill, next up vote in House] Bill is nearly 3100 pages, for $886 billion NDAA passed Senate 87-13 ; Bryant Harris [https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2023/12/14/congress-passed-the-fy24-defense-policy-bill-heres-whats-inside/ (14 Dec 2023) Congress passed the FY24 defense policy bill: Here's what's inside] passed House 310-118; </ref> The Senate will next undertake negotiations on supplemental spending for 2024.<ref name= supplementalUpNext >BURGESS EVERETT, ANTHONY ADRAGNA and JENNIFER HABERKORN [https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/14/schumer-sinema-ukraine-border-deal-00131838 (14 Dec 2024) Sinema 'can see the deal' on Ukraine-border as Schumer cuts recess]</ref><ref name= 8Jan24status >Sumanti Sen [https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/us-government-shutdown-congressional-leaders-sign-1-66-trillion-government-funding-deal-101704687727129.html (8 Jan 2024) US government shutdown: Congressional leaders sign $1.66 trillion government funding deal] $1,659 billion= $886.3 billion for defense, $772.7 billion for non-defense</ref> A government shutdown was averted on 23 March 2024 with the signing of a $1.2 trillion bill to cover FY2024.<ref name= trillionBudgetIn2024 >Clare Foran [https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/23/politics/biden-government-funding-bill-congress/index.html (23 Mar 2024) Biden signs government funding bill]</ref><ref name= stopgapUntil8Mar24 >Carl Hulse [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/18/us/politics/senate-spending-bill.html (18 Jan 2024) Congress Clears Stopgap Spending Bill for Biden, Moving to Avert Shutdown]</ref>


==Budget for FY2023==
===Emergency and supplemental spending===
{{anchor|fy2023BudgetRequest}}
The recent invasions of [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]] were largely funded through supplementary spending bills outside the Federal Budget, so they are not included in the military budget figures listed below.<ref>David Isenberg, [http://www.independent.org/pdf/policy_reports/2007-01-30-budgeting.pdf ''Budgeting for Empire: The effect of Iraq and Afghanistan on Military Forces, Budgets and Plans'']</ref> In addition, the [[Pentagon]] has access to [[black budget]] military spending for special programs which is not listed as Federal spending and is not included in published military spending figures. Starting in the fiscal year 2010 budget however, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are categorized as "Overseas Contingency Operations" and included in the budget.
{{As of|2022|03}}, the defense department was operating under a [[continuing resolution]],<ref name="vox" /> which constrains spending even though DoD has to respond to world events, such as the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]];<ref name="vox">{{Cite web |last=Zhou |first=Li |date=2022-02-17 |title=Congress's short-term funding bills are a terrible way to govern |url=https://www.vox.com/2022/2/17/22933441/congress-government-shutdown-continuing-resolution |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Vox |language=en}}</ref><ref name="aei">{{Cite web |last1=Ferrari |first1=John |last2=McCusker |first2=Elaine |date=2022-03-02 |title=The Ukraine invasion shows why America needs to get its defense budget in order |url=https://breakingdefense.com/2022/03/the-ukraine-invasion-shows-why-america-needs-to-get-its-defense-budget-in-order/ |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Breaking Defense |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="ppbe2024Army">{{Cite web |last=Gould |first=Joe |date=2023-03-03 |title=Army to seek multiyear munitions buys in next budget |url=https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2023/03/03/army-to-seek-multiyear-munitions-buys-in-next-budget/ |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="machineTooling">{{Cite web |last=Skove |first=Sam |date=2023-03-03 |title=A Lack of Machine Tools Is Holding Back Ammo Production, Army Says |url=https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2023/03/us-artillery-production-ukraine-limited-lack-machine-tools-army-official-says/383615/ |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Defense One |language=en}}</ref> the FY2023 defense budget request will exceed $773{{nbsp}}billion, according to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.<ref name="fy2023BudgetRequest">Jacqueline Feldscher and Marcus Weisgerber [https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2022/03/russias-invasion-will-boost-2023-defense-budget-top-democrat-says/362737/ (3 Mar 2022) Russia's Invasion Will Boost 2023 Defense Budget, Top Democrat Says; Rep. Adam Smith: Putin's war "fundamentally altered what our national security posture" needs to be.] The president's FY2023 budget request will be in excess of $773{{nbsp}}billion</ref> By 9 March 2022 a bipartisan agreement on a $782{{nbsp}}billion defense budget had been reached (as part of an overall $1.5{{nbsp}}trillion budget for FY2022{{snd}}thus avoiding a government shutdown).<ref name="fram">{{Cite web |last=Fram |first=Alan |date=2022-03-09 |title=Top lawmakers reach deal on Ukraine aid, $1.5T spending |url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-covid-health-business-fa702b0f9efa4805b622739d302bc4cf |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>


As of 4 April 2022 the FY2023 presidential budget request of $773{{nbsp}}billion included $177.5{{nbsp}}billion for the Army,<ref name="da">{{Cite web |title=Army releases fiscal year 2023 presidential budget request |url=https://www.army.mil/article/255122/army_releases_fiscal_year_2023_presidential_budget_request |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=www.army.mil |date=28 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="armyPBreq">{{Cite web |last=Eversden |first=Andrew |date=2022-03-28 |title=Army's $177.5B budget request will 'maintain' momentum on modernization, but cuts vehicle buys |url=https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2022/03/armys-177-5b-budget-request-will-maintain-momentum-on-modernization-but-cuts-vehicle-buys/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Breaking Defense |language=en-US}}</ref> $194{{nbsp}}billion for the Air Force and Space Force,<ref name="daf">{{Cite web |date=2022-03-28 |title=Department of the Air Force budget proposal focuses on transformation, modernization |url=https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article/2980516/department-of-the-air-force-budget-proposal-focuses-on-transformation-moderniza/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spaceforce.mil%2FNews%2FArticle-Display%2FArticle%2F2980516%2Fdepartment-of-the-air-force-budget-proposal-focuses-on-transformation-moderniza%2F |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=United States Space Force |language=en-US}}</ref> and $230.8{{nbsp}}billion for the Navy and Marine Corps (up 4.1% from FY2022 request).<ref name="don">{{Cite web |last1=Berger |first1=Meredith A. |last2=Gumbleton |first2=John |date=2022-03-28 |title=Navy Officials Hold a Press Briefing on FY23 Navy Budget, March 28, 2022 |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/2981954/navy-officials-hold-a-press-briefing-on-fy23-navy-budget-march-28-2022 |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=U.S. Department of Defense |language=en-US}}</ref> As of 12 December 2022 the House and Senate versions of the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (FY2023 NDAA) were to be $839{{nbsp}}billion, and $847{{nbsp}}billion, for the HASC, and SASC respectively, for a compromise $857.9{{nbsp}}billion top line.<ref name="2023ndaa">{{Cite web |last=Mehta |first=Aaron |date=2022-12-07 |title=Compromise NDAA released with $857.9 billion topline |url=https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2022/12/compromise-ndaa-released-with-857-9-billion-topline/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Breaking Defense |language=en-US |postscript=. $816.7 billion DoD, $30.3 billion DoE nuclear.}}</ref> By 16 December 2022 the current budget extension resolution will have expired.<ref name="dodReminder">{{Cite web |last=III |first=Leo Shane |date=2022-11-28 |title=SecDef tells Congress to get a military budget done already |url=https://www.armytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/11/28/secdef-tells-congress-to-get-a-military-budget-done-already/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Army Times |language=en |postscript=. The presidential budget request was "$800 billion for fiscal 2023, which would be around 2.5% above the fiscal 2022 level"; Congress has proposed a budget higher than the requested amount. The delay is affecting training schedules and PCS moves.}}</ref> The President signed the FY2023 Appropriations bill on 23 December 2022.<ref name="fundsAppropriated">{{Cite web |last=Hadley |first=Greg |date=2022-12-24 |title=Just in Time for Christmas, Congress OKs $858B Defense Bill |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/just-in-time-for-christmas-congress-oks-858b-defense-bill/ |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Air & Space Forces Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
By the end of 2008, the U.S. had spent approximately $900 billion in direct costs on the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Indirect costs such as interest on the additional debt and incremental costs of caring for the more than 33,000 wounded borne by the [[Veterans Administration]] are additional. Some experts estimate these indirect costs will eventually exceed the direct costs.<ref>[http://www.csbaonline.org/4Publications/PubLibrary/R.20081215.Cost_of_the_Wars_i/R.20081215.Cost_of_the_Wars_i.pdf Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments-Cost of the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars Through 2008]</ref>


US military spending in 2021 reached $801{{nbsp}}billion per year according to the [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]].
===By title===
The federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the [[United States Department of Defense]] for fiscal year 2010, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals/ Table 3.2—Outlays by Function and Subfunction: 1962–2014]</ref>:


==Budget for FY2022==
In May 2021, the President's defense budget request for FY2022 was $715{{nbsp}}billion, up $10{{nbsp}}billion from the $705{{nbsp}}billion FY2021 request.<ref name="maucione">{{Cite web |last=Maucione |first=Scott |date=2021-05-28 |title=DoD budget largely flat, cuts legacy systems for modernization |url=https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2021/05/dod-budget-largely-flat-cuts-legacy-systems-for-modernization/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Federal News Network |language=en-US |postscript=. Overseas contingency operations (OCO) account ($69 billion in FY2021) is now deleted after the withdrawal from Afghanistan; "direct and enduring" contingency costs ($43 billion) are now an official part of the budget request.}}</ref> The total FY2022 defense budget request, including the [[US Department of Energy|Department of Energy]], was $753{{nbsp}}billion, up $12{{nbsp}}billion from FY2021's request.<ref name="maucione"/><ref name="fy21GreenBook">[https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2021/FY21_Green_Book.pdf Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) comptroller.defense.gov National Defense Budget Estimates for FY 2021] Green book, 308 pp., cf. Table 1-1 National Defense Budget{{Snd}}Long Range Forecast</ref> On 22 July 2021 the [[Senate Armed Services Committee]] approved a budget $25{{nbsp}}billion greater than the President's request.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Colin |date=2021-07-22 |title=SASC Adds $25 Billion To NDAA In Bipartisan Vote |url=https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2021/07/sasc-adds-25-billion-to-ndaa-in-bipartisan-vote/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Breaking Defense |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="ndaaCommission">{{Cite web |last=Greenwalt |first=Bill |date=2021-12-13 |title=New defense budget commission could be last hope for fixing DoD spending |url=https://breakingdefense.com/2021/12/new-defense-budget-commission-could-be-last-hope-for-fixing-dod-spending/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Breaking Defense |language=en-US |postscript=. A 14-member commission for reforming the PPBE process{{snd}}Bill Greenwalt's critique of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution system (PPBE) which was instituted by McNamara in 1961.}}</ref><ref name="ppbe11Jul22">Brendan W. McGarry, CRS [https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47178/3 (11 Jul 2022) DOD Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE): Overview and Selected Issues for Congress] R47178 —describes PPBE's role in DoD Acquisition</ref> The National Defense Authorization Act, budgeting $740{{nbsp}}billion for defense, was signed 27 December 2021.<ref name="signedNdaa">{{Cite web |last=Losey |first=Stephen |date=2021-12-27 |title=Biden signs $740B defense policy bill to overhaul sexual assault prosecutions, review Afghan war |url=https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2021/12/27/biden-signs-740b-defense-policy-bill-to-overhaul-sexual-assault-prosecutions-review-afghan-war/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref>

By military department,<ref name="mcleary">{{Cite web |last=McLeary |first=Paul |date=2021-05-28 |title=Biden's Budget Cuts Ships, Planes, But Huge Boost in R&D |url=https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2021/05/bidens-budget-cuts-ships-planes-but-huge-boost-in-rd/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Breaking Defense |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="gould">{{Cite web |last=Gould |first=Joe |date=2021-06-03 |title=Eyeing China, Biden defense budget boosts research and cuts procurement |url=https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2021/05/28/eyeing-china-biden-defense-budget-boosts-research-and-cuts-procurement/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="eversden">{{Cite web |last=Eversden |first=Andrew |date=2021-05-28 |title=Pentagon wants to spend big on joint war-fighting systems |url=https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/it-networks/2021/05/28/pentagon-wants-to-spend-big-on-joint-war-fighting-systems/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=C4ISRNet |language=en}}</ref> the Army's portion of the budget request, $173{{nbsp}}billion, dropped $3.6{{nbsp}}billion from the enacted FY2021 budget;<ref name="freedberg">{{Cite web |last=Jr |first=Sydney J. Freedberg |date=2021-05-28 |title=Army Modernization Budget Drops $4.2B; Budget Drops $3.6B Overall |url=https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2021/05/army-budget-cut-3-6b-modernization-cut-4-2b/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Breaking Defense |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="sascFundsArmyList">{{Cite web |last=Judson |first=Jen |date=2021-07-23 |title=Senate authorizers want to fund the Army's entire wish list |url=https://www.defensenews.com/land/2021/07/23/senate-authorizers-want-to-fund-the-armys-entire-wish-list/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="asafm">[https://www.asafm.army.mil/Portals/72/Documents/BudgetMaterial/2021/pbr/Overview%20and%20Highlights/Army_FY_2021_Budget_Overview.pdf MG Paul A Chamberlain (10 Feb 2020) Army FY2021 Budget Overview]</ref> the Department of the Navy's portion of the budget request, $211.7{{nbsp}}billion, rose 1.8% from the enacted FY2021 budget, largely due to a 6% increase for the Marine Corps' restructuring into a [[littoral combat]] force (Navy request: $163.9{{nbsp}}billion, or just 0.6% over FY2021, Marine Corps request: $47.9{{nbsp}}billion, a 6.2% increase over FY2021);<ref name="eckstein">{{Cite web |last=Eckstein |first=Megan |date=2021-06-01 |title=US Navy FY22 budget request prioritizes readiness over procurement |url=https://www.defensenews.com/congress/budget/2021/05/28/us-navy-fy22-budget-request-prioritizes-readiness-recovery-over-procurement-buys-4-warships/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref> the Air Force's $156.3{{nbsp}}billion request for FY2022 is a 2.3% increase over FY2021 enacted budget; the Space Force budget of $17.4{{nbsp}}billion is a 13.1% increase over FY2021 enacted budget.<ref name="saffm">{{Cite web |title=Department of the Air Force President's Budget |url=https://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/FM-Resources/Budget/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=www.saffm.hq.af.mil}}</ref> [[Contingency operation|Overseas contingency operations]] (OCOs) are now replaced by "direct war and enduring costs", which are now migrated into the budget.<ref name="gould" /> After the release of the FY2022 budget requests to Congress, the military departments also posted their Unfunded priorities/requirements lists for the Congressional Armed Services Committees.<ref name="armyWishlist2022">[https://news.yahoo.com/us-army-5-5b-wish-004905392.html Jen Judson (2 Jun 2021) US Army's $5.5B wish list seeks to restore cuts made to protect force modernization]</ref><ref name="navyWishlist2022">{{Cite web |last=Eckstein |first=Megan |date=2021-06-03 |title=If Congress can find the money, the US Navy would like another new destroyer this year |url=https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2021/06/01/if-congress-can-find-the-money-the-us-navy-would-like-another-new-destroyer-this-year/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="mcwishlist2022">{{Cite web |last=Eckstein |first=Megan |date=2021-06-03 |title=US Marines request more missiles, radars in FY22 wish list |url=https://www.defensenews.com/congress/budget/2021/06/02/us-marines-request-more-missiles-radars-in-fy22-wish-list/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="afWishlist2022">{{Cite web |last=Insinna |first=Valerie |date=2021-06-02 |title=US Air Force wish list includes more F-15EX jets but no F-35s |url=https://www.defensenews.com/congress/budget/2021/06/02/air-force-asks-for-more-f-15ex-jets-in-fy22-unfunded-wish-list-not-f-35s/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Defense News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="sfWishlist2022">{{Cite web |last=Strout |first=Nathan |date=2021-06-11 |title=Space Command asks Congress for $67 million to achieve full operational capability |url=https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2021/06/11/space-command-asks-congress-for-67-million-to-achieve-full-operational-capability/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=C4ISRNet |language=en}}</ref>

== Budget for FY2021 ==
For FY2021, the Department of Defense's discretionary budget authority was approximately $705.39{{nbsp}}billion ($705,390,000,000). Mandatory spending of $10.77{{nbsp}}billion, the Department of Energy and defense-related spending of $37.335{{nbsp}}billion added up to the total FY2021 Defense budget of $753.5{{nbsp}}billion.<ref name="fy21GreenBook" /> FY2021 was the last year for OCOs as shown by the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. [[Operational Test and Evaluation Force#Fleet RDT&E Support Process|Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation]] (RDT&E) investments for the future are offset by the OCO cuts, and by reduced procurement of legacy materiel.<ref name="maucione" /><ref name="oco15,18">[https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2015/amendment/FY15_OCO_Congressional_Briefing.pdf (June 27, 2014) FY 2015 DoD Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Budget Amendment]
*[https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2016/FY16_ITEF_J_Book.pdf (Mar 2015)] OCO 2016
*[https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2017/FY17_ITEF_J_Book.pdf (Feb 2016)] OCO 2017
*[https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2018/FY18_ASFF_J-Book.pdf (May 2017)] OCO 2018
</ref>

=== Budget summary for FY2021 with projections for FY2022&ndash;2025 ===

(Expenditures listed in millions of dollars)
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" | Function and subfunction<ref name="fy21GreenBook" /> !! rowspan="2" | FY2019 total<ref name="fy21GreenBook" /> !! colspan="4" | FY2020<ref name="fy21GreenBook" /> !! colspan="3" | FY2021<ref name="fy21GreenBook" /> !! rowspan="2" | FY2022 total<ref name="fy21GreenBook" /> !! rowspan="2" | FY2023 total<ref name="fy21GreenBook" /> !! rowspan="2" | FY2024 total<ref name="fy21GreenBook" /> !! rowspan="2" | FY2025 total<ref name="fy21GreenBook" />
|-
! Base !! OCO !! Emergency !! Total !! Base !! OCO !! Total
|-
| '''051 - DoD discretionary''' || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| Military personnel (no MERHFC){{Efn|MERHFC is Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Fund Contribution, administered separately by the treasury}} || 141,851 || 142,446 || 4,486 || || 146,932 || 150,524 || 4,603 || 155,126 || 158,117 || 162,796 || 167,495 || 171,897
|-
| Operation and maintenance || 281,801 || 234,885 || 53,735 || 977 || 289,597 || 230,352 || 58,569 || 288,921 || 279,501 || 282,530 || 296,585 || 301,993
|-
| Procurement || 146,533 || 131,734 || 11,590 || 431 || 143,754 || 131,756 || 5,128 || 136,884 || 137,746 || 149,108 || 157,060 || 161,930
|-
| RDT&E || 95,304 || 103,520 || 834 || 130 || 104,485 || 106,225 || 331 || 106,555 || 104,839 || 101,821 || 100,254 || 99,961
|-
| Revolving and management funds || 1,873 || 1,564 || 20 || 234 || 1,818 || 1,349 || 20 || 1,369 || 1,347 || 1,358 || 1,381 || 1,410
|-
| DoD bill (no MERHFC) || 667,362 || 614,149 || 70,665 || 1,772 || 686,586 || 620,206 || 68,651 || 688,855 || 681,550 || 697,613 || 722,775 || 737,191
|-
| Medicare-eligible retiree health fund contribution (MERHFC) || 7,533 || 7,817 || || || 7,817 || 8,373 || || 8,373 || 8,819 || 9,270 || 9,752 || 10,255
|-
| DoD bill with MERHFC || 674,895 || 621,966 || 70,665 || 1,772 || 694,403 || 628,579 || 68,651 || 697,228 || 690,369 || 706,883 || 732,527 || 747,446
|-
| Military construction || 11,332 || 9,850 || 645 || 6,229 || 16,723 || 6,462 || 350 || 6,812 || 10,036 || 8,623 || 8,379 || 9,233
|-
| Family housing || 1,565 || 1,465 || || || 1,465 || 1,351 || || 1,351 || 1,497 || 1,556 || 1,649 || 1,655
|-
| Military construction bill || 12,897 || 11,315 || 645 || 6,229 || 18,188 || 7,813 || 350 || 8,163 || 11,533 || 10,179 || 10,028 || 10,888
|-
| Allowances || 38 || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| Outyears placeholder for OCO || || || || || || || || || 20,000 || 20,000 || 10,000 || 10,000
|-
| '''051 - Total DoD discretionary (DoD record)''' || '''687,830''' || '''633,281''' || '''71,310''' || '''8,000''' || '''712,591''' || '''636,392''' || '''69,000''' || '''705,392''' || '''721,902''' || '''737,063''' || '''752,555''' || '''768,334'''
|-
| Scoring and rounding || 22 || || || || 5 || || || || || || ||
|-
| '''051 - Total DoD discretionary (OMB record)''' || '''687,852''' || || || || '''712,596''' || || || '''705,392''' || '''721,902''' || '''737,063''' || '''752,555''' || '''768,334'''
|-
| '''051 - DoD mandatory''' || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| Military personnel || 7,909 || || || || 8,505 || || || 10,605 || 10,898 || 11,136 || 11,389 || 11,628
|-
| Operation and maintenance || 1,328 || || || || 997 || || || 1,368 || 1,184 || 1,154 || 1,173 || 1,193
|-
| Procurement || 266 || || || || 252 || || || 289 || || || ||
|-
| RDT&E || 230 || || || || 240 || || || 153 || || || ||
|-
| Revolving and management funds || 16,742 || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| DoD bill || 26,475 || || || || 9,994 || || || 12,415 || 12,082 || 12,290 || 12,562 || 12,821
|-
| Military construction || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| Family housing || 39 || || || || 36 || || || || || || ||
|-
| Military construction bill || 39 || || || || 36 || || || || || || ||
|-
| Trust funds || 442 || || || || 755 || || || 484 || 530 || 615 || 230 || 229
|-
| Offsetting receipts || -2,194 || || || || -1,753 || || || -2,043 || -1,922 || -1,892 || -1,912 || -1,933
|-
| Interfund transactions || -46 || || || || -91 || || || -86 || -83 || -79 || -77 || -74
|-
| '''051 - Total DoD mandatory (DoD record)''' || '''24,716''' || || || || '''8,941''' || || || '''10,770''' || '''10,608''' || '''10,934''' || '''10,804''' || '''11,044'''
|-
| Scoring and rounding || 2 || || || || 7 || || || 5 || 309 || 200 || 115 || 41
|-
| '''051 - Total DoD mandatory (OMB record)''' || '''24,718''' || || || || '''8,948''' || || || '''10,775''' || '''10,917''' || '''11,134''' || '''10,919''' || '''11,085'''
|}

== Budget for FY2020 ==

For fiscal year 2020 (FY2020), the Department of Defense's budget authority was approximately $721.5{{nbsp}}billion ($721,531,000,000). Approximately $712.6{{nbsp}}billion is discretionary spending with approximately $8.9{{nbsp}}billion in mandatory spending. The Department of Defense estimates that $689.6{{nbsp}}billion ($689,585,000,000) will actually be spent (outlays).<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Defense Budget Estimates for FY 2021 |url=https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2021/FY21_Green_Book.pdf}}</ref> Both left-wing and right-wing commentators have advocated for the cutting of military spending.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/16/defund-the-pentagon-the-liberal-case-364648|title=Defund the Pentagon: The Liberal Case|website=[[Politico]]|last1=Sanders|first1=Bernie|date=July 16, 2020|access-date=July 17, 2020|author1-link=Bernie Sanders}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/16/defund-the-pentagon-the-conservative-case-366066|title=Defund the Pentagon: The Conservative Case|website=[[Politico]]|last1=Lautz|first1=Andrew|last2=Bydlak|first2=Jonathan|date=July 16, 2020|access-date=July 17, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Zakaria |first1=Fareed |date=2021-03-18 |title=The Pentagon is using China as an excuse for huge new budgets |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-pentagon-is-using-china-as-an-excuse-for-huge-new-budgets/2021/03/18/848c8296-8824-11eb-8a8b-5cf82c3dffe4_story.html}}</ref><ref name="fy1952Fy2020PersonnelGrowthData">[https://warontherocks.com/2021/09/accounting-for-the-costs-of-military-personnel/ Seamus Daniels (22 Sep 2021) ACCOUNTING FOR THE COSTS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL] FY1952 to FY2020 diffs when adjusted for inflation</ref>

== Budget for FY2019 ==
For FY2019, the Department of Defense's budget authority was $693,058,000,000 (including discretionary and mandatory budget authority).<ref name=":3">{{cite web | url=https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2020/FY20_Green_Book.pdf | title=Table 1-1: National Defense Budget - Long Range Forecast (Dollars in Millions) | work=National Defense Budget Estimates for FY 2020 | publisher=Officer of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) | date=May 2019 | access-date=30 May 2020 }}</ref>

=== Budget request for FY2019 ===
In February 2018, the Pentagon requested $686{{nbsp}}billion for FY2019.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rizzo |first1=Jennifer |date=12 February 2018 |title=Pentagon asks for major budget increase amid threats from Russia, China and North Korea |publisher=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/12/politics/pentagon-budget-increase-trump/index.html |access-date=13 February 2018}}</ref>

The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act authorized Department of Defense appropriations for 2019 and established policies, but it did not contain the budget itself. On 26 July, this bill passed in the House of Representatives by 359–54. On 1 August, the US Senate passed it by 87–10. The bill was presented to President Trump two days later. He signed it on 13 August.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.congress.gov/115/crpt/hrpt874/CRPT-115hrpt874.pdf |title=John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2019 Conference Report To Accompany H.R. 5515 |publisher=US Congress |page=1181 |access-date=3 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Roll Call Vote 115th Congress - 2nd Session |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=2&vote=00181 |publisher=US Senate}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2018-08-13 |title=H.R.5515 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5515/all-info |publisher=US Congress}}</ref>

On 28 September 2018, Trump signed the Department of Defense appropriations bill. The approved 2019 Department of Defense discretionary budget was $686.1{{nbsp}}billion.<ref>{{cite news |title=DoD Topline: FY 2001 - FY 2019 |publisher=Department of Defense |url=https://dod.defense.gov/News/SpecialReports/Budget2019.aspx |access-date=8 December 2018}}</ref> It has also been described as "$617{{nbsp}}billion for the base budget and another $69{{nbsp}}billion for war funding."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Cancian |first1=Mark |date=4 October 2018 |title=The High Times May Be Ending For U.S. Defense Spending |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcancian/2018/10/04/industry-should-hedge-its-bets-on-the-defense-budget/#5fd6b22b3965 |magazine=Forbes |access-date=8 December 2018}}</ref>

=== Total overview ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+National defense budget authority{{Snd}}discretionary and mandatory (in millions)<ref name=":3" />
!(Discretionary budget authority) + OCO + emergency (combined)
!FY2019
|-
|Military personnel (without MERHFC)
|$143,198
|-
|Operations and maintenance
|$278,803
|-
|Procurement
|$147,287
|-
|Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation
|$95,253
|-
|Revolving and management funds
|$1,656
|-
|'''Defense bill (without MERHFC)'''
|'''$666,197'''
|-
|Medicare-eligible retiree health fund contribution (MERHFC)
|$7,533
|-
|'''Department of Defense bill + MERHFC'''
|'''$673,730'''
|-
|Military construction
|$9,688
|-
|Family housing
|$1,565
|-
|'''Military construction bill'''
|$11,253
|-
|'''<u>Total base + OCO + emergency (DoD record)</u>'''
|'''<u>$684,985</u>'''
|-
|<u>'''Total DoD mandatory (DoD record)'''</u>
|<u>$8,073</u>
|-
!DoD total
!$693,058
|}

=== For personnel payment and benefits ===
Personnel payment and benefits take up approximately 39.14% of the total budget of $686,074,048,000.<ref name=":0">https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2020/FY20_Green_Book.pdf {{PD-notice}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Pay and benefits funding (in billions, base budget only)<ref name=":0" />
!Pay and benefits funding
!FY2019
|-
|Military personnel appropriations
|$140.7
|-
|Medicare-eligible retiree health care accruals
|$7.5
|-
|Defense health program
|$34.2
|-
|[[Department of Defense Education Activity|DoD Education Activity]]
|$3.4
|-
|Family housing
|$1.6
|-
|Commissary subsidy
|$1.3
|-
|Other benefit programs
|$3.4
|-
|'''Military pay and benefits'''
|'''$192.0'''
|-
|'''Civilian pay and benefits'''
|'''$76.4'''
|-
|'''<u>Total pay and benefits</u>'''
|'''<u>$268.5</u>'''
|}

=== By overseas contingency operation ===
Overseas contingency operations (OCO) funds are sometimes called war funds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/overseas-contingency-operations/|title=Overseas Contingency Operations: The Pentagon Slush Fund|last1=Street|first1=351 Pleasant|last2=MA|first2=Suite B. #442 Northampton|website=National Priorities Project|language=en-us|access-date=2019-02-15}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ OCO funding by operation/activity (in billions)
|-
!Operation/activity
!FY2019
|-
|[[Operation Freedom's Sentinel]] (OFS) and related missions
|$46.3
|-
|[[Operation Inherent Resolve]] (OIR) and related missions
|$15.3
|-
|[[European Deterrence Initiative]] (EDI)
|$6.5
|-
|Security cooperation
|$0.9
|-
|'''<u>Grand total</u>'''
|'''<u>$69.0</u>'''
|}

=== By military department ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+DoD Total (base + OCO + emergency) budget by military department (in billions)
!Discretionary budget authority
!FY2019<ref name=":0" />
|-
|[[United States Department of the Army|Department of the Army]]
|$182
|-
|[[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]] (including [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]])
|$194.1
|-
|[[United States Department of the Air Force|Department of the Air Force]]
|$194.2
|-
|Defense-wide
|$115.8
|}

=== Military health care funding ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Military health care funding (in billions, base budget only)<ref name=":0" />
!Program
!FY2019
|-
|Defense health (DHP)
|$33.7
|-
|Military personnel
|$8.9
|-
|Military construction
|$0.4
|-
|Health care accrual
|$7.5
|-
|'''<u>Unified medical budget</u>'''
|'''<u>$50.6</u>'''
|-
|''Treasury receipts for current Medicare-eligible retirees''
|''$11.1''
|}

The MHS offers, but does not always provide, a health care benefit to 9.5 million eligible beneficiaries, which includes active military members and their families, military retirees and their families, dependent survivors, and certain eligible reserve component members and their families. The unified medical budget (UMB), which comprises the funding and personnel needed to support the MHS' mission, consumes nearly 9% of the department's topline budget authority. Thus, it is a significant line item in the department's financial portfolio.<ref name=":0" />

=== Budgeting terms ===
Budget authority: the authority to legally incur binding obligations (like signing contracts and placing orders), that will result in current and future outlays. When "military budget" is mentioned, people generally are referring to discretionary budget authority.

Outlays: Also known as expenditures or disbursements, it is the liquidation of obligations and general represent cash payments.

Total obligational authority: DoD financial term expressing the value of the direct defense program for a given fiscal year, exclusive of the obligation authority from other sources (such as reimbursable orders accepted)

Discretionary: Annually appropriated by [[United States Congress|Congress]], subject to budget caps.

Mandatory: budget authority authorized by permanent law.

== Previous budgets ==
{{Cleanup section|reason=Sub-sections are not in chronological order, may be duplicated from earlier sections|date=August 2023}}
As of 2013, the Department of Defense was the third largest executive branch department and utilized 20% of the federal budget.

For the 2011 fiscal year, the president's base budget for the Department of Defense and spending on overseas contingency operations totaled $664.84{{nbsp}}billion.<ref name="Budget FY2010">[https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/summary.pdf Updated Summary Tables, Budget of the United States Government Fiscal Year 2010 (Table S.12)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091102154942/http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/summary.pdf|date=2 November 2009}}</ref><ref name="gpoaccess.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/pdf/budget/defense.pdf |title=Department of Defense |access-date=26 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107010807/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/pdf/budget/defense.pdf |archive-date=7 January 2012 }}</ref>

When the budget was signed into law on 28 October 2009, the final size of the Department of Defense's budget was $680{{nbsp}}billion, $16{{nbsp}}billion more than President Obama had requested.<ref name="Senate FY2010">{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/53047-senate-oks-defense-bill-68-29/|title=Senate OKs defense bill, 68-29|work=The Hill|access-date=25 March 2015|date=2009-10-23}}</ref> An additional $37{{nbsp}}billion supplemental bill to support the wars in [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]] was expected to pass in the spring of 2010, but has been delayed by the House of Representatives after passing the Senate.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/world/05military.html ''The New York Times'', "Pentagon Expected to Request More War Funding"]</ref><ref>[http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/103719-gates-concerned-about-delayed-war-supplemental-, "Gates 'concerned' about delayed war supplemental"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622052209/http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/103719-gates-concerned-about-delayed-war-supplemental-%2C |date=22 June 2011}}</ref>

=== Emergency and supplemental spending ===
The military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were largely funded through supplementary spending bills that supplemented the annual military budget requests for each fiscal year.<ref>David Isenberg, [http://www.independent.org/pdf/policy_reports/2007-01-30-budgeting.pdf ''Budgeting for Empire: The effect of Iraq and Afghanistan on Military Forces, Budgets and Plans'']</ref> However, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were categorized as overseas contingency operations beginning in fiscal year 2010, and the budget is included in the federal budget.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

By the end of 2008, the US had spent approximately $900{{nbsp}}billion in direct costs on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The government also incurred indirect costs, which include interests on additional debt and incremental costs, financed by the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Affairs Department]], of caring for more than 33,000 wounded. Some experts estimate the indirect costs will eventually exceed the direct costs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.csbaonline.org/4Publications/PubLibrary/R.20081215.Cost_of_the_Wars_i/R.20081215.Cost_of_the_Wars_i.pdf |title=Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments-Cost of the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars Through 2008 |access-date=9 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305122448/http://www.csbaonline.org/4Publications/PubLibrary/R.20081215.Cost_of_the_Wars_i/R.20081215.Cost_of_the_Wars_i.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As of June 2011, the total cost of the wars was approximately $1.3{{nbsp}}trillion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-war-idUSTRE75S25320110629|title=Cost of war at least $1.3 trillion and counting|last=Trotta|first=Daniel|date=29 June 2011|work=Reuters|access-date=25 November 2012}}</ref>

=== By title ===
[[File:USA 2010 Military Budget Spending.jpg|right|thumb|US 2010 military budget spending]]
The federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2013 is as follows. While data is provided from the 2015 budget, data for 2014 and 2015 is estimated, and thus data is shown for the last year for which definite data exists (2013).<ref name="budget">{{cite web|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/pagedetails.action?granuleId=BUDGET-2015-TAB-5-1&packageId=BUDGET-2015-TAB&fromBrowse=true|title=Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2015|date=2015|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office]]|access-date=1 January 2015}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Components
|'''Components'''||'''Funding'''|| '''Change, 2009 to 2010'''
!Funding
!Change, 2012 to 2013
|-
|Operations and maintenance
|$258.277{{nbsp}}billion
| −9.9%
|-
|Military personnel
|$153.531{{nbsp}}billion
| −3.0%
|-
|Procurement
|$97.757{{nbsp}}billion
| −17.4%
|-
|-
|Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation
|Operations and maintenance||$283.3 billion|| +4.2%
|$63.347{{nbsp}}billion
| −12.1%
|-
|-
|Military Personnel||$154.2 billion|| +5.0%
|Military construction
|$8.069{{nbsp}}billion
| −29.0%
|-
|-
|Family housing
|Procurement||$140.1 billion|| &minus;1.8%
|$1.483{{nbsp}}billion
| −12.2%
|-
|-
|Other miscellaneous costs
|Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation||$79.1 billion|| +1.3%
|$2.775{{nbsp}}billion
| −59.5%
|-
|-
|Atomic energy defense activities
|Military Construction||$23.9 billion|| +19.0%
|$17.424{{nbsp}}billion
| −4.8%
|-
|-
|Defense-related activities
|Family Housing||$3.1 billion|| &minus;20.2%
|$7.433{{nbsp}}billion
| −3.8%
|-
|-
|'''Total Spending'''||'''$685.1 billion'''|| '''+3.0%'''
|'''Total spending'''
|'''$610.096{{nbsp}}billion'''
|'''−10.5%'''
|}
|}


===By service===
=== By entity ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Entity
|'''Service'''||'''2010 Budget request'''<ref>[http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/ Death and Taxes]</ref>|| '''Percentage of Total'''
!2010 budget request<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/|title=Death and Taxes|work=wallstats.com|access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref>
!Percentage
!Notes
|-
|-
|[[United States Department of the Army|Army]]
|Army||$225.2 billion|| 33.9%
|$244.8{{nbsp}}billion
|31.8%
|
|-
|-
|[[United States Department of the Navy|Navy]]
|Navy/Marine Corps||$171.7 billion|| 25.9%
|$142.2{{nbsp}}billion
|23.4%
|Excluding Marine Corps
|-
|-
|[[United States Department of the Air Force|Air Force]]
|Air Force||$160.5 billion|| 24.2%
|$170.6{{nbsp}}billion
|22%
|
|-
|-
|Defense Wide||$106.4 billion|| 16.0%
|Defense-wide joint activities
|$118.7{{nbsp}}billion
|15.5%
|
|-
|[[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]]
|$11.0 billion
|4%
|Total budget allotted from the Department of the Navy
|-
|Defense Intelligence
|$80.1{{nbsp}}billion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/irp/budget/index.html|title=U.S. Intelligence Budget Data|publisher=Fas.org|access-date=25 November 2012}}</ref>
|3.3%
|''Because of its classified nature, this budget item is an estimate and may not be the actual figure''
|}
|}


===Programs spending more than $1 billion===
=== Programs spending more than $1.5 billion ===
The FY 2009 $104.2 billion procurement and $79.6 billion RDT&E budgets appropriated several programs with more than $1 billion.
The Department of Defense's FY2011 $137.5{{nbsp}}billion procurement and $77.2{{nbsp}}billion RDT&E budget requests included several programs worth more than $1.5{{nbsp}}billion.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Program
|'''Program'''||'''2009 Budget request'''<ref name="CRS FY2009">[http://opencrs.com/document/RL34473/2008-08-01/ Open Congressional Research Service, ''Defense: FY2009 Authorization and Appropriations]</ref><ref>[http://www.defenselink.mil/comptroller/defbudget/fy2009/Summary_Docs/FY2009_Major_Weapons_Systems.pdf DoD FY 2009 Budget Request Summary Justification, Major Weapons Systems]</ref>||'''Change, 2008 to 2009'''
!2011 budget request<ref name="CRS FY2011">[http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2012/FY2012_Weapons.pdf Defense Comptroller, ''FY 2011 Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon System''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121002254/http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2012/FY2012_Weapons.pdf|date=21 January 2012}}</ref>
!Change, 2010 to 2011
|-
|-
|[[F-35 Joint Strike Fighter]]
|[[National missile defense|Missile Defense]]||$9.4 billion||+8.0%
|$11.4{{nbsp}}billion
| +2.1%
|-
|-
|[[Missile Defense Agency]] ([[Terminal High Altitude Area Defense|THAAD]], [[Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System|Aegis]], [[Ground-Based Midcourse Defense|GMD]], [[Patriot Advanced Capability-3#MIM-104F .28PAC-3.29|PAC-3]])
|[[F-35 Joint Strike Fighter]]||$6.9 billion||+6.2%
|$9.9{{nbsp}}billion
| +7.3%
|-
|-
|[[Virginia class submarine]]
|[[Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier|Carrier Replacement Program]]||$4.2 billion||+23.5%
|$5.4{{nbsp}}billion
| +28.0%
|-
|-
|[[BCT Modernization|Brigade combat team Modernization]]
|[[F-22 Raptor]]||$4.1 billion||&minus;6.8%
|$3.2{{nbsp}}billion
| +21.8%
|-
|-
|[[Arleigh Burke class destroyer|DDG 51 Burke-class Aegis destroyer]]
|[[Virginia class submarine]]||$3.9 billion||+14.7%
|$3.0{{nbsp}}billion
| +19.6%
|-
|-
|[[Boeing P-8 Poseidon|P–8A Poseidon]]
|[[Future Combat System]]||$3.3 billion||&minus;2.9%
|$2.9{{nbsp}}billion
|−1.6%
|-
|-
|[[V-22 Osprey]]
|[[Zumwalt class destroyer|DDG 1000 Destroyer]]||$3.2 billion||&minus;8.6%
|$2.8{{nbsp}}billion
|−6.5%
|-
|-
|[[Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier|Carrier replacement program]]
|[[C-17_Globemaster_III|C-17]]||$3.0 billion||
|$2.7{{nbsp}}billion
| +95.8%
|-
|-
|[[F/A-18E/F Super Hornet|F/A-18E/F Hornet]]
|[[V-22 Osprey]]||$2.7 billion||+3.8%
|$2.0{{nbsp}}billion
| +17.4%
|-
|-
|[[General Atomics MQ-1 Predator|Predator]] and [[General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper|Reaper]] unmanned aerial system
|[[Space-Based Infrared System]]||$2.3 billion||+130.0%
|$1.9{{nbsp}}billion
| +57.8%
|-
|-
|[[Littoral combat ship]]
|[[F/A-18E/F Super Hornet|F/A-18E/F Hornet]]||$2.0 billion||&minus;4.8%
|$1.8{{nbsp}}billion
| +12.5%
|-
|-
|[[Refueling and Complex Overhaul|CVN Refueling and Complex Overhaul]]
|[[SH-60 Seahawk|MH-60R/S]]||$1.9 billion||+72.7%
|$1.7{{nbsp}}billion
|−6.0%
|-
|-
|[[United States and weapons of mass destruction#Chemical weapons|Chemical demilitarization]]
|[[EA-18G Growler]]||$1.8 billion||+12.5%
|$1.6{{nbsp}}billion
|−7.0%
|-
|-
|[[Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk|RQ-4 Global Hawk]]
|[[United States and weapons of mass destruction#Chemical weapons disposal|Chemical Demilitarization]]||$1.6 billion||+0.0%
|$1.5{{nbsp}}billion
| +6.7%
|-
|-
|[[Space-Based Infrared System]]
|[[Stryker]]||$1.3 billion||+18.2%
|$1.5{{nbsp}}billion
| +54.0%
|}

=== Other military-related expenditures ===
This does not include many military-related items that are outside of the Defense Department budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance, cleanup, and production, which are in the Atomic Energy Defense Activities section,<ref>[https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/hist.pdf www.whitehouse.gov]</ref> Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department's payments in pensions to military retirees and widows and their families, interest on debt incurred in past wars, or [[State Department]] financing of foreign arms sales and militarily-related development assistance. Neither does it include defense spending that is domestic rather than international in nature, such as the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]], counter-terrorism spending by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], and intelligence-gathering spending by [[NSA]], although these programs contain certain weapons, military and security components.

Accounting for non DoD military-related expenditure gives a total budget in excess of $1.4 trillion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Getting the defense budget right: A (real) grand total, over $1.4 trillion {{!}} Responsible Statecraft |url=https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/05/07/getting-the-defense-budget-right-a-real-grand-total-over-1-4-trillion/ |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=responsiblestatecraft.org |language=en}}</ref>

===Budget request for FY2018===
On 16 March 2017 President Trump submitted his request to Congress for $639{{nbsp}}billion in military spending (an increase of $54{{nbsp}}billion, 10% for [[2018 United States federal budget|FY2018]], as well as $30{{nbsp}}billion for FY2017, which ends in September). With a total federal budget of $3.9{{nbsp}}trillion for FY2018, the increase in military spending would result in deep cuts to many other federal agencies and domestic programs, as well as the State Department.<ref name="CNN_T100_FY2018">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/16/politics/donald-trump-defense-budget-blueprint/|title=Trump proposes $54 billion defense spending hike|last=Cohen|first=Zachary|date=26 March 2017|work=CNN|access-date=27 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="bostonglobe_T100_budget">{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=Andrew |date=16 March 2017 |title=Trump budget would slash domestic programs to boost military |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/03/16/trump-unveils-trillion-budget/5Wa4rRxxdgrrBBqrSueUjO/story.html |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=27 March 2017 |location=Washington}}</ref><ref name="reuters_T100_FY2018">{{cite news |last1=Rampton |first1=Roberta |last2=Cowan |first2=Richard |date=16 March 2017 |title=Trump's budget seeks to boost military, slash other federal agencies |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-idUSKBN16M1DO |work=[[Reuters]] |access-date=16 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="bostonglobe_T100_FY2018">{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=Andrew |date=16 March 2017 |title=Trump budget would slash domestic programs to boost military |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/03/16/trump-unveils-trillion-budget/5Wa4rRxxdgrrBBqrSueUjO/story.html |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=16 March 2017}}</ref> Trump had pledged to "rebuild" the military as part of his 2016 presidential campaign.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestiefer/2016/11/09/president-trump-is-likely-to-boost-u-s-military-spending-by-500-billion-to-1-trillion/#466c41024108|title=President Trump Is Likely To Boost U.S. Military Spending By $500 Billion To $1 Trillion|last=Tiefer|first=Charles|access-date=22 February 2017|newspaper=Forbes}}</ref>

In April 2017, journalist [[Scot J. Paltrow]] raised concerns about the increase in spending with the Pentagon's history of "faulty accounting".<ref name="reuters_T100_pentagon">{{citation |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pentagon-idUSKBN17F1PQ |date=13 April 2017 |access-date=13 April 2017 |title=As Trump seeks defense-spending boost, watchdogs cite faulty Pentagon accounting |author=[[Scot J. Paltrow]] |location= Washington|work=Reuters }}</ref>

On 14 July, the [[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018|National Defense Authorization Act 2018]] was passed by the US House of Representatives 344{{Ndash}}81, with 8 not voting.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-14 |title=Final Vote Results for Roll Call 378 |url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2017/roll378.xml |website=clerk.house.gov}}</ref> 60% of Democrats voted for the bill, which represented an 18% increase in defense spending. Congress increased the budget to total $696{{nbsp}}billion.

=== Budget request for FY2017 ===
[[File:2017 Request Budget Breakdown Fig 1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Appropriated 2016 budget and proposed 2017 budget]]
The currently available budget request for 2017 was filed on 9 February 2016,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2017/FY2017_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf |title=United States Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Request |publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense |year=2016}}</ref> under then-President Barack Obama.

The press release of the proposal specifies the structure and goals for the FY2017 budget:<ref name=":1" />

<blockquote>The FY2017 budget reflects recent strategic threats and changes that have taken place in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Russian aggression, terrorism by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and others, and China's island building and claims of sovereignty in international waters all necessitate changes in our strategic outlook and in our operational commitments. Threats and actions originating in Iran and North Korea negatively affect our interests and our allies. These challenges have sharpened the focus of our planning and budgeting.</blockquote>

The proposal also includes a comparison of the 2016 and the proposed 2017 request amounts, a summary of acquisitions requested for 2017 and enacted in 2016, and provides in detail a breakdown of specific programs to be funded.

==== Investments ====
{| class="wikitable"
!
!FY2016 enacted
!FY2017 request
!Change
|-
|-
|Aircraft and related systems
|[[Littoral combat ship]]||$1.3 billion||+116.7%
|50.6
|45.3
| −5.3
|-
|-
|[[C4I]] systems
|[[CH-47 Chinook]]||$1.2 billion||+9.1%
|7.1
|7.4
|0.3
|-
|-
|Ground systems
|[[P-8A Poseidon]]||$1.2 billion||+33.3%
|9.9
|9.8
| −0.1
|-
|-
|Missile defense programs
|[[Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle]]||$1.2 billion||+9.1%
|9.1
|8.5
| −0.6
|-
|-
|Missiles and munitions
|[[UH-60 Black Hawk]]||$1.1 billion||&minus;26.7%
|12.7
|13.9
|1.2
|-
|-
|Mission support
|[[E-2 Hawkeye|E-2C/D Hawkeye]]||$1.1 billion||+22.2%
|52.9
|52.4
| −0.5
|-
|-
|Science & technology (S&T)
|[[UGM-133 Trident II|Trident II Ballistic Missile]]||$1.1 billion||+0.0%
|13.0
|12.5
| −0.5
|-
|-
|Shipbuilding and maritime systems
|[[Mobile User Objective System]]||$1.0 billion||+25.0%
|27.5
|27.0
| −0.5
|-
|Space-based systems
|7.0
|7.1
|0.1
|-
|Rescissions
| −1.8
| -
| +1.8
|-
|Total
|188
|183.9
| −4.1
|}
|}


Amounts are in billions of dollars.
===Other defense-related expenditures===

[[File:PerCapitaInflationAdjustedDefenseSpending.PNG|thumb|right|500px|Per-capita Defense Spending 1962-2015 (inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars)]]
==== Major acquisition programs ====
[[File:InflationAdjustedDefenseSpending.PNG|thumb|right|500px|Defense Spending 1962-2015 (inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars)<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/hist03z2.xls Historical Outlays by Function and Subfunction]</ref><ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/hist04z1.xls Historical Outlays by Agency]</ref>]]
These are the top 25 DoD weapon programs described in detail. Quantity refers to the number of items requested:
This does not include many military-related items that are outside of the Defense Department budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance, cleanup, and production, which is in the [[National Nuclear Security Administration|Department of Energy]] budget, [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Affairs]], the Treasury Department's payments in pensions to military retirees and widows and their families, interest on debt incurred in past wars, or State Department financing of foreign arms sales and militarily-related development assistance. Neither does it include defense spending that is not military in nature, such as the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]], counter-terrorism spending by the [[FBI]], and intelligence-gathering spending by [[NASA]].
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |FY2016
! colspan="2" |FY2017
|-
| colspan="2" |
|Quantity
|Dollars in billions
|Quantity
|Dollars in billions
|-
| colspan="6" |Aircraft
|-
|F-35
|Joint Strike Fighter
|68
|11.6
|63
|10.5
|-
|KC-46A
|Tanker
|12
|3.0
|15
|3.3
|-
|P-8A
|Poseidon
|17
|3.4
|11
|2.2
|-
|V-22
|Osprey
|20
|1.6
|16
|1.5
|-
|E-2D AHE
|Advanced Hawkeye
|5
|1.2
|6
|1.4
|-
|AH-64E
|Apache helicopter
|64
|1.4
|52
|1.1
|-
|C/HC/MC-130J
|Hercules
|29
|2.4
|14
|1.3
|-
|UH-60
|Black Hawk helicopter
|107
|1.8
|36
|1.0
|-
|CH-53K
|King Stallion helicopter
| --
|0.6
|2
|0.8
|-
|MQ-4C
|Triton
|4
|1.0
|2
|0.8
|-
|H-1 Upgrades
|Bell helicopter
|29
|0.9
|24
|0.8
|-
|NGJ
|Next Generation Jammer increment 1
| --
|0.4
| --
|0.6
|-
|CH-47F
|Chinook helicopter
|39
|1.1
|22
|0.7
|-
| colspan="6" |Missile defense/missiles
|-
|BMDS
|Ballistic missile defense
| --
|7.7
| --
|6.9
|-
|Trident II
|Trident II missile modifications
| --
|1.2
| --
|1.2
|-
|AMRAAM
|Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile
|429
|0.7
|419
|0.7
|-
| colspan="6" |Ships
|-
|SSN 774
|Virginia submarine
|2
|5.7
|2
|5.3
|-
|DDG 51
|Aegis destroyer
|2
|4.4
|2
|3.5
|-
|CVN 78
|Ford aircraft carrier
| --
|2.8
| --
|2.8
|-
|ORR
|Ohio replacement
| --
|1.4
| --
|1.9
|-
|LHA-6
|Amphibious assault ship
| --
|0.5
|1
|1.6
|-
|LCS
|Littoral combat ship
|3
|1.8
|2
|1.6
|-
| colspan="6" |Space
|-
|AEHF
|[[Advanced Extremely High Frequency]] satellite
| --
|0.6
| --
|0.9
|-
|EELV
|[[Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle]]
|4
|1.5
|5
|1.8
|-
| colspan="6" |Trucks
|-
|JLTV
|Joint Light Tactical Vehicle
|804
|0.4
|2,020
|0.7
|}

==== Science and technology program ====
This program's purpose is to "invest in and develop capabilities that advance the technical superiority of the US military to counter new and emerging threats."<ref name=":2" /> It has a budget of $12.5{{nbsp}}billion, but is separate from the overall Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation portfolio, which comprises $71.8{{nbsp}}billion. Efforts funded apply to the Obama administration's refocusing of the US military to Asia, identifying investments to "sustain and advance [the] DoD's military dominance for the 21st century", counter the "technological advances of US foes",<ref name=":2" /> and support [[National Network for Manufacturing Innovation|Manufacturing Initiative]] institutes. A breakdown of the amounts provided, by tier of research, is provided:
{| class="wikitable"
!Program
!FY2016 request
!FY2016 enacted
!FY2017 request
!Change (FY16 enacted − FY17 request)
|-
|Basic research
|2.1
|2.3
|2.1
| −0.2
|-
|Applied research
|4.7
|5.0
|4.8
| −0.2
|-
|Advanced technology development
|5.5
|5.7
|5.6
| −0.1
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''12.3'''
|'''13.0'''
|'''12.5'''
|'''-0.5'''
|}

==== Total budget by department ====
{| class="wikitable"
!Total budget
!FY2016 enacted
!FY2017 request
!Change
|-
|Army
|146,928,044
|148,033,950
| +1,105,906
|-
|Navy
|168,786,798
|164,861,078
| -3,925,720
|-
|Air Force
|161,783,330
|166,879,239
| +5,095,909
|-
|Defense-wide
|102,801,512
|102,927,320
| +125,808
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''580,299,684'''
|'''582,701,587'''
|'''+2,401,903'''
|}
Amounts in thousands of dollars

==== Total budget by component ====
{| class="wikitable"
!Total budget
!FY2016 enacted
!FY2017 request
!Change
|-
|Military personnel
|138,552,886
|138,831,498
| +278,612
|-
|Operation and maintenance
|244,434,932
|250,894,310
| +6,459,378
|-
|Procurement
|118,866,320
|112,081,088
| -6,785,232
|-
|Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation
|69,009,764
|71,765,940
| +2,756,176
|-
|Revolving and management funds
|1,264,782
|1,512,246
| +247,464
|-
|Military construction
|6,909,712
|6,296,653
| -613,059
|-
|Family housing
|1,261,288
|1,319,852
| +58,564
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''580,299,684'''
|'''582,701,587'''
|'''+2,401,903'''
|}

Amounts in thousands of dollars

===== Funding of payments and benefits =====
This portion of the military budget comprises roughly one third to one half of the total defense budget, considering only military personnel or additionally including civilian personnel, respectively. These expenditures will typically be, the single largest expense category for the department. Since 2001, military pay and benefits have increased by 85%, but remained roughly one third of the total budget due to an overall increased budget. Military pay remains at about the 70th percentile compared to the private sector to attract sufficient amounts of qualified personnel.<ref name=":2"/>
{| class="wikitable"
!Military pay and benefits funding
!FY2016 enacted
!FY2017 request
|-
|Military personnel appropriations
|128.7
|128.9
|-
|Medicare-eligible retiree health care accruals
|6.6
|6.4
|-
|Defense health program
|32.9
|33.8
|-
|DoD Education Activity
|3.1
|2.9
|-
|Family housing
|1.3
|1.3
|-
|Commissary subsidy
|1.4
|1.2
|-
|Other benefit programs
|3.5
|3.4
|-
|Military pay and benefits funding
|177.5
|177.9
|-
|Civilian pay and benefits funding
|71.8
|72.9
|-
|'''Total pay and benefits funding'''
|'''249.3'''
|'''250.8'''
|-
|DoD base budget authority
|521.7
|523.9
|-
|Military pay and benefits as % of budget
|34.0%
|34.0%
|-
|'''Total pay and benefits as % of budget'''
|'''47.8%'''
|'''47.9%'''
|}

===== Funding the military health system =====
The request for 2017 amounts to $48.8{{nbsp}}billion. The system has 9.4 million beneficiaries, including active, retired, and eligible reserve component military personnel and their families, and dependent survivors.<ref name=":2" />
{| class="wikitable"
!Program
!FY2017 request
|-
|Defense health (DHP)
|33.5
|-
|Military personnel
|8.6
|-
|Military construction
|0.3
|-
|Health care accrual
|6.4
|-
|'''Unified medical budget'''
|'''48.8'''
|}

=== Budget for 2016 ===
On 9 February 2016, the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] under President Obama released a statement outlining the proposed 2016 and 2017 defense spending budgets that "[reflect] the priorities necessary for our force today and in the future to best serve and protect our nation in a rapidly changing security environment."<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |title=Department of Defense (DoD) Releases Fiscal Year 2017 President's Budget |language=en-US |publisher=U.S. Department of Defense |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/652687/department-of-defense-dod-releases-fiscal-year-2017-presidents-budget-proposal |access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Budget by appropriation<ref name=":1" />
!Components
!Dollars in billions
|-
|Military personnel
|138.6
|-
|Operation and maintenance
|244.4
|-
|Procurement
|118.9
|-
|RDT&E
|69.0
|-
|Revolving and management funds
|1.3
|-
|Military construction
|6.9
|-
|Family housing
|1.3
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''580.3'''
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Budget by military department<ref name=":1" />
!Departments
!Dollars in billions
|-
|Army
|146.9
|-
|Navy
|168.8
|-
|Air Force
|161.8
|-
|Defense-wide
|102.8
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''580.3'''
|}

=== Audit of 2011 budget ===
Again in 2011, the [[Government Accountability Office]] (GAO) could not "render an opinion on the 2011 consolidated financial statements of the federal government", with a major obstacle again being "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense (DOD) that made its financial statements unauditable".<ref name="GAO press release2011b">{{cite web|url=http://www.gao.gov/press/financial_report_2011dec23.html|title=Significant Financial Management and Fiscal Challenges Reflected in the U.S. Government's 2011 Financial Report|date=16 November 2011 |publisher=US Government Accountability Office|access-date=2 January 2012}}</ref>

In December 2011, the GAO found that "neither the Navy nor the Marine Corps have implemented effective processes for reconciling their FBWT." According to the GAO, "An agency's FBWT account is similar in concept to a corporate bank account. The difference is that instead of a cash balance, FBWT represents unexpended spending authority in appropriations." In addition, "As of April 2011, there were more than $22{{nbsp}}billion unmatched disbursements and collections affecting more than 10,000 lines of accounting."<ref name="GAO press releaseDec2011">{{Cite journal|url=http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-132|title=DOD Financial Management: Ongoing Challenges with Reconciling Navy and Marine Corps Fund Balance with Treasury|issue=GAO-12-132|publisher=US Government Accountability Office|access-date=2 January 2012|date=2011-12-20|last1=Office|first1=U. S. Government Accountability}}</ref>

=== Audit of implementation of budget for 2010 ===
The GAO was unable to provide an [[audit opinion]] on the 2010 financial statements of the US Government due to "widespread [[Materiality (auditing)|material]] internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations."<ref name="GAO press release">{{cite web|url=http://www.gao.gov/press/financial_report_2010dec21.html|title=US Government's 2010 Financial Report Shows Significant Financial Management and Fiscal Challenges|date=12 November 2010 |publisher=US Government Accountability Office|access-date=6 January 2011}}</ref> The GAO cited as the principal obstacle to its provision of an audit opinion "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense that made its financial statements unauditable".<ref name="GAO press release" />

In FY2010, six out of thirty-three DoD reporting entities received unqualified audit opinions.<ref name="DoD FR 25">{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|title=FY 2010 DoD Agencywide Agency Financial Report (''vid.'')|publisher=US Department of Defense|page=25|access-date=7 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214071610/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|archive-date=14 December 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[Robert F. Hale]], Chief Financial Officer and [[Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|Under Secretary of Defense]], acknowledged enterprise-wide problems with systems and processes,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|title=FY 2010 DoD Agencywide Agency Financial Report (''vid.'' p.18)|publisher=US Department of Defense|access-date=7 January 2011|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214071610/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf |archive-date=14 December 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> while the DoD's [[Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense|Inspector General]] reported "material internal control weaknesses{{Nbsp}}... that affect the safeguarding of assets, proper use of funds, and impair the prevention and identification of fraud, waste, and abuse".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|title=FY 2010 DoD Agencywide Agency Financial Report (''vid.'' p.32)|publisher=US Department of Defense|access-date=7 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214071610/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|archive-date=14 December 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Further management discussion in the FY2010 DoD Financial Report states "it is not feasible to deploy a vast number of accountants to manually reconcile our books" and concludes that "although the financial statements are not auditable for FY2010, the Department's financial managers are meeting warfighter needs".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|title=FY 2010 DoD Agencywide Agency Financial Report (''vid.'' pp. 20, 28)|publisher=US Department of Defense|access-date=7 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214071610/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|archive-date=14 December 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Budget by year ===
[[File:Defense Spending as a Percent of GDP.png|upright=2|thumb|Defense Spending as a Percent of GDP 1792–2017]]
[[File:Defense spending.png|upright=2|thumb|Historical defense spending]]
The accompanying graphs show that US military spending as a percent of [[gross domestic product]] (GDP) peaked during World War II.


The table shows historical spending on defense from 1996 to 2022, spending for 2023–2024 is estimated.<ref name="budget2024">{{cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BUDGET-2024-TAB/BUDGET-2024-TAB-6-1|title=Budget FY 2024 - Table 5.1 - Budget Authority by Function and Subfunction: 1976-2028|access-date=Aug 21, 2023}}</ref> The defense budget is shown in billions of dollars and total budget in trillions of dollars. The percentage of the total [[US federal budget]] spent on defense is indicated in the third row, and change in defense spending from the previous year in the final row.
==Budget Breakdown for 2011==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="5" | Historical defense spending 1996&ndash;2024
|'''Defense-related expenditure'''||'''2011 Budget request & Mandatory spending'''<ref name="Budget FY2010"/><ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals/ Table 8.5—Outlays for Mandatory and Related Programs: 1962–2014]</ref> || '''Calculation'''<ref name="Higgs"/><ref>{{cite web | author = Christopher Hellman | title = America Spending More on Security Than Most Know | url = http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/policy/securityspending/articles/spending_more_than_most_know/ | accessdate = September 30, 2009 }}</ref>
|-
|-
! Year
|DOD spending||$721.3 billion|| Base budget + "Overseas Contingency Operations"
! Defense budget (billions)
! Total budget (trillions)
! Defense budget %
! Defense spending % change
|-
|-
| 2024 || $910 || $7.05 || {{Round| {{#expr:910 / 7.05/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(910-905)/905*100}} |1}}
|FBI counter-terrorism||$2.7 billion|| At least one-third FBI budget.
|-
|-
| 2023 || $905 || $6.56 || {{Round| {{#expr:905 / 6.56/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(905-838)/838*100}} |1}}
|International Affairs||$10.1&ndash;$54.2 billion|| At minimum, foreign arms sales. At most, entire State budget
|-
|-
| 2022 || $838 || $6.58 || {{Round| {{#expr:838/ 6.58/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(838-759)/759*100}} |1}}
|Energy Department, defense-related||$20.9 billion||
|-
|-
| 2021 || $759 || $7.14 || {{Round| {{#expr:759 / 7.14/10}} |1}} || {{Round| {{#expr:(759-774)/774*100}} |1}}
|Veterans Affairs||$66.2 billion||
|-
|-
| 2020 || $774 || $7.73 || {{Round| {{#expr:774/ 7.73/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(774-745)/745*100}} |1}}
|Homeland Security||$54.7 billion||
|-
|-
| 2019 || $745 || $4.70 || {{Round| {{#expr:745 / 4.7/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(745-726)/726*100}} |1}}
|NASA, satellites||$3.4&ndash;$8.5 billion||Between 20% and 50% of NASA's total budget
|-
|-
| 2018 || $726 || $4.46 || {{Round| {{#expr:726 / 4.46/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(726-656)/656*100}} |1}}
|Veterans pensions||$58.4 billion||
|-
|-
| 2017 || $656 || $4.15 || {{Round| {{#expr:656/ 4.15/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(656-624)/624*100}} |1}}
|Other defense-related mandatory spending||$7.5 billion||
|-
|-
| 2016 || $624 || $3.97 || {{Round| {{#expr:624/ 3.97/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(624-598)/598*100}} |1}}
|Interest on debt incurred in past wars||$57.7&ndash;$228.1 billion||Between 23% and 91% of total interest
|-
|-
| 2015 || $598|| $3.77 || {{Round| {{#expr:598/ 3.77/10}} |1}} || {{Round| {{#expr:(598-622)/622*100}} |1}}
|'''Total Spending'''||'''$1.003–$1.223 trillion'''||
|-
| 2014 || $622 || $3.61 || {{Round| {{#expr:622/ 3.61/10}} |1}} || +{{Round| {{#expr:(622-610)/610*100}} |1}}
|-
| 2013 || $610 || $3.48 || 17.5 || −10.5
|-
| 2012 || $681 || $3.58 || 19.1 || −5.0
|-
| 2011 || $717 || $3.51 || 20.4 || −0.6
|-
| 2010 || $721 || $3.48 || 20.7 || +3.4
|-
| 2009 || $698 || $4.08 || 17.1 || +0.2
|-
| 2008 || $696 || $3.32 || 20.9 || +11.3
|-
| 2007 || $625 || $2.86 || 21.9 || +12.5
|-
| 2006 || $556 || $2.78 || 20.0 || +10.0
|-
| 2005 || $506 || $2.58 || 19.6 || +3.1
|-
| 2004 || $491 || $2.41 || 20.4 || +7.6
|-
| 2003 || $456 || $2.27 || 20.1 || +26.0
|-
| 2002 || $362 || $2.09 || 17.3 || +8.2
|-
| 2001 || $335 || $1.96 || 17.1 || +10.1
|-
| 2000 || $304 || $1.82 || 16.7 || +4.0
|-
| 1999 || $292 || $1.78 || 16.4 || +7.8
|-
| 1998 || $271 || $1.69 || 16.0 || +0.2
|-
| 1997 || $270 || $1.64 || 16.5 || +1.6
|-
| 1996 || $266 || $1.58 || 16.8 || −0.1
|}
|}


==Support service contractors==
== Support service contractors ==
{{Main|Defense contractor}}
{{Main|Defense contractor}}
{{See also|List of United States defense contractors}}
{{See also|List of United States defense contractors}}
The role of [[Private military company|support service contractors]] has increased since 2001 and in 2007 payments for contractor services exceeded investments in equipment for the armed forces for the first time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2007/June/Pages/MoreServLess2623.aspx|title=More Services, Less Hardware Define Current Military Buildup|date=June 2007|publisher=[[National Defense Industrial Association]]|author=Sandra I. Erwin|work=Defense Watch|access-date=6 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729134633/http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2007/June/Pages/MoreServLess2623.aspx|archive-date=29 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 2010 budget, the support service contractors will be reduced from the current 39 percent of the workforce down to the pre-2001 level of 26 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1341|title=Secretary of Defense Testimony: Defense Budget Recommendation Statement (Arlington, VA)|work=defense.gov|access-date=25 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307195222/http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1341|archive-date=7 March 2015|df=mdy}}</ref> In a Pentagon review of January 2011, service contractors were found to be "increasingly unaffordable."<ref>Liebelson, Dana. [http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/01/nyt-misses-elephant-in-the-room-defense-service-contractors-.html "NYT Misses Elephant in the Room: Defense Service Contractors."] ''POGO'', 3 January 2012.</ref>


== Military budget and total federal spending ==
The role of [[Private military company|support service contractors]] has increased since 2001 and in 2007 payments for contractor services exceeded investments in equipment for the armed forces for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2007/June/Pages/MoreServLess2623.aspx |title=More Services, Less Hardware Define Current Military Buildup |author=Sandra I. Erwin |date=June 2007 |work=Defense Watch |publisher=[[National Defense Industrial Association]] |accessdate=6 December 2009}} </ref> In the 2010 budget the support service contractors will be reduced from the current 39 percent of the workforce down to the pre-2001 level of 26 percent.<ref>[http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1341 Defense Budget Recommendation Statement, SoD Gates, 6 April 2009]</ref>
[[File:2023 US Federal Budget Infographic.png|thumb|400px|right|CBO Infographic showing 2023 federal spending]]
The Department of Defense budget accounted in FY2017 for about 14.8% of federal budgeted expenditures. According to the [[Congressional Budget Office]], defense spending grew 9% annually on average in fiscal years 2000–2009.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209084424/https://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/106xx/doc10640/10-2009-MBR.pdf|archive-date=2011-02-09|url=http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/106xx/doc10640/10-2009-MBR.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Monthly Budget Review|work=Congressional Budget Office|access-date=2024-01-20}}</ref>


Because of [[United States Constitution|constitutional]] limitations, military funding is appropriated in a [[discretionary spending]] account. (Such accounts permit government planners to have more flexibility to change spending each year, as opposed to [[mandatory spending]] accounts that mandate spending on programs in accordance with the law, outside of the budgetary process.) In recent years, discretionary spending as a whole has amounted to about one-third of total federal outlays.<ref>[http://www.house.gov/jec/fiscal/budget/restrain/update/update.htm Congressional Appropriations: An Updated Analysis<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Department of Defense spending's share of discretionary spending was 50.5% in 2003, and has risen to between 53% and 54% in recent years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdi.org/issues/budget/fy%2702/|title=Fiscal Year 2002 Budget|publisher=[[Center for Defense Information]]|access-date=13 July 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051127174039/http://www.cdi.org/issues/budget/fy%2702/|archive-date=27 November 2005}}</ref>
==Military budget and total US federal spending==
[[Image:U.S. Federal Spending - FY 2007.png|thumb|right|350px|Fiscal Year 2009 U.S. Federal Spending &ndash; Cash or Budget Basis]]
The U.S. Department of Defense budget accounted in fiscal year 2010 for about 19% of the United States federal budgeted expenditures and 28% of estimated tax revenues. Including non-DOD expenditures, defense spending was approximately 25&ndash;29% of budgeted expenditures and 38&ndash;44% of estimated tax revenues. According to the [[Congressional Budget Office]], defense spending grew 9% annually on average from fiscal year 2000&ndash;2009.<ref>[http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/106xx/doc10640/10-2009-MBR.pdf CBO-Monthly Budget Review-Sept 09]</ref>


For FY2017, Department of Defense spending amounts to 3.42% of GDP. Because the US GDP has grown over time, the military budget can rise in absolute terms while shrinking as a percentage of the GDP. For example, the Department of Defense budget was slated to be $664{{nbsp}}billion in 2010 (including the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan previously funded through supplementary budget legislation<ref>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/10/bush-to-speak-1.html|title=Bush submits $42.3B Iraq war supplemental funding bill|date=22 October 2007|newspaper=USA Today|author=Mike Carney|access-date=6 October 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Cole |first=August |date=5 February 2008 |title=Bush's Successor to Confront Tough Decisions on Defense |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120214811249441305 |url-access=subscription |access-date=6 October 2009}}</ref>), higher than at any other point in American history, but still 1.1–1.4% lower as a percentage of GDP than the amount spent on military during the peak of Cold-War military spending in the late 1980s.<ref name="FY2010Budget">[https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/budget.pdf The President's FY 2010 Budget] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216190701/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/budget.pdf |date=16 February 2017 }}</ref> Admiral [[Mike Mullen]], former [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]], has called four percent an "absolute floor".<ref>{{cite news |title=Joint Chiefs Chairman Looks Beyond Current Wars (Published 2007) |work=The New York Times |date=22 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425060106/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/washington/22mullen.html?_r=1 |archive-date=2023-04-25 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/washington/22mullen.html?_r=1 |last1=Shanker |first1=Thom }}</ref> This calculation does not take into account some other military-related non-DoD spending, such as Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and interest paid on debt incurred in past wars, which has increased even as a percentage of the national GDP.
Because of [[United States Constitution|constitutional]] limitations, military funding is appropriated in a [[discretionary spending]] account. (Such accounts permit government planners to have more flexibility to change spending each year, as opposed to [[mandatory spending]] accounts that mandate spending on programs in accordance with the law, outside of the budgetary process.) In recent years, discretionary spending as a whole has amounted to about one-third of total federal outlays.<ref>[http://www.house.gov/jec/fiscal/budget/restrain/update/update.htm Congressional Appropriations: An Updated Analysis<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Military funding's share of discretionary funding was 50.5% in 2003, and has risen steadily ever since.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdi.org/issues/budget/fy'02/|title=Fiscal Year 2002 Budget|accessdate=2006-07-13|publisher=[[Center for Defense Information]]}}</ref>


In 2015, Pentagon and related spending totaled $598{{nbsp}}billion.
For FY 2010, Department of Defense spending amounts to 4.7% of GDP.<ref name="FY2010Budget">[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/hist.pdf The President's FY 2010 Budget]</ref> Because the U.S. GDP has risen over time, the military budget can rise in absolute terms while shrinking as a percentage of the GDP. For example, the Department of Defense budget is slated to be $664 billion in 2010 (including the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan previously funded through supplementary budget legislation<ref>{{cite news |title=Bush submits $42.3B Iraq war supplemental funding bill |author=Mike Carney |newspaper=USA Today |date=22 October 2007 |url=http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/10/bush-to-speak-1.html |accessdate=06 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bush's Successor to Confront Tough Decisions on Defense |author=AUGUST COLE |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=5 February 2008 |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120214811249441305.html?mod=googlenews_wsj |accessdate=6 October 2009}}</ref>), higher than at any other point in American history, but still 1.1&ndash;1.4% lower as a percentage of GDP than the amount spent on defense during the peak of Cold-War military spending in the late 1980s.<ref name="FY2010Budget"/> Admiral [[Mike Mullen]], chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called four percent an "absolute floor".<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/washington/22mullen.html?_r=1 Joint Chiefs Chairman Looks Beyond Current Wars]</ref> This calculation does not take into account some other defense-related non-DOD spending, such as Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and interest paid on debt incurred in past wars, which has increased even as a percentage of the national GDP.


In addition, the US will spend at least $179{{nbsp}}billion over the fiscal years of 2010–2018 on its nuclear arsenal, averaging $20{{nbsp}}billion per year. Despite President Barack Obama's attempts in the media to reduce the scope of the current nuclear arms race, the US intends to spend an additional $1{{nbsp}}trillion over the next 30 years modernizing its nuclear arsenal.
==Comparison with other countries==
[[Image:Military expenditure percent of GDP.svg|thumb|350px|Military spending as a percentage of [[GDP]]]]


In September 2017 the Senate followed President Donald Trump's plan to expand military spending, which will boost spending to $700{{nbsp}}billion, about 91.4% of which will be spent on maintaining the armed forces and primary Pentagon costs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-congress/senate-backs-massive-increase-in-military-spending-idUSKCN1BT2PV|title=Senate backs massive increase in military spending|date= 2017-09-19|work=Reuters|access-date=2017-11-24}}</ref> Military spending is increasing regularly and more money is being spent every year on employee pay, operation and maintenance, and benefits including health benefits. Methods to counteract rapidly increasing spending include shutting down bases, but that was banned by the [[Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-budget-components-challenges-growth-3306320|title=Here's the $250 Billion in Hidden Military Spending|work=The Balance|access-date=2017-11-24|language=en}}</ref>
The 2009 U.S. military budget is almost as much as the rest of the world's defense spending combined and is over nine times larger than the [[Military budget of the People's Republic of China|military budget of China]] (compared at the [[Real versus nominal value|nominal]] [[US dollar]] / [[Renminbi]] rate, not the [[purchasing power parity|PPP]] rate). The United States and its close allies are responsible for two-thirds to three-quarters of the world's [[List of countries by military expenditures|military spending]] (of which, in turn, the U.S. is responsible for the majority)<ref>[http://www.19.org/index.php?aid=312 ''World Military Spending'', Anup Shah]</ref><ref name= Facts>{{Cite web
| title = World Wide Military Expenditures
| publisher = GlobalSecurity.org
| date = 2006
| url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spending.htm
| accessdate = May 10th 2010}}</ref>
. China's reported defense spending is, however, a matter of debate as the PRC official numbers are often underreported.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} Additionally, the Chinese defense establishment owns and operates companies within China and uses profits as well as the companies themselves to invest in defense research and production.


=== Independent analysis of military budget as part of federal spending ===
In 2005, the United States spent 4.06% of its [[GDP]] on its military (considering only basic Department of Defense budget spending), more than France's 2.6% and less than [[Saudi Arabia]]'s 10%.<ref>{{cite web|author=[[CIA World Factbook]]|title=Rank Order &ndash; Military expenditures percent of GDP|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html|accessdate=2006-05-26}}</ref> This is historically low for the United States since it peaked in 1944 at 37.8% of GDP (it reached the lowest point of 3.0% in 1999&ndash;2001). Even during the peak of the [[Vietnam War]] the percentage reached a high of 9.4% in 1968.<ref name="tp">{{cite web | publisher=[http://www.truthandpolitics.org/ TruthAndPolitics.org]|title=Relative Size of US Military Spending from 1940 to 2003|url=http://www.truthandpolitics.org/military-relative-size.php}}</ref>
[[War Resisters League]] (WRL) has been publishing yearly (since 2001<ref name="WRL-ARCH-PC">[https://web.archive.org/web/20010219114830/http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm WRL 2001 Pie Chart Archive]</ref> or earlier) federal budget breakdowns<ref name="WRL-PC">[https://www.warresisters.org/catalog/federal-budget-pie-charts WRL Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes]</ref> which show that military-related spending is a much larger part of the US federal budget than typically reported by official sources. For example, for FY2024, WRL claims that military-related spending makes up 43% of the US budget.<ref name="WRL-FY2024PC">[https://www.warresisters.org/store/where-your-income-tax-money-really-goes-fy2024 WRL FY2024 Pie Chart]</ref>


== Federal waste ==
==Recent commentary on military budget==
As of September 2014, the Department of Defense was estimated to have "$857 million in excess parts and supplies". This figure has risen over the past years, and of the Pentagon waste that has been calculated, two figures are especially worth mentioning: the expenditure of "$150 million on private villas for a handful of Pentagon employees in Afghanistan and the procurement of the [[JLENS]] air-defense balloon" which, throughout the program's development over the past two decades, is estimated to have cost $2.7{{nbsp}}billion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hartung|first=William|year=2016|title=Don't Get Fooled Again: Pentagon Waste and Congressional Oversight|journal=Center for International Policy}}</ref>
[[File:U.S. Defense Spending Trends.png|thumb|right|Defense spending 2000-2011]]
[[Image:U.S. Defense Spending - % to Outlays.png|thumb|right|Defense spending as % Outlays FY 1950&ndash;2007]]


== Comparison with other countries ==
In February 2009, Congressman [[Barney Frank]], D-Mass., called for a reduction in the defense budget: "The math is compelling: if we do not make reductions approximating 25 percent of the military budget starting fairly soon, it will be impossible to continue to fund an adequate level of domestic activity even with a repeal of Bush's tax cuts for the very wealthy. I am working with a variety of thoughtful analysts to show how we can make very substantial cuts in the military budget without in any way diminishing the security we need...[American] well-being is far more endangered by a proposal for substantial reductions in Medicare, Social Security or other important domestic areas than it would be by canceling weapons systems that have no justification from any threat we are likely to face."<ref>[http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090302/frank?rel=rightsideaccordian Barney Frank &ndash; The Nation]</ref>
[[File:Military Expenditures by Country 2019.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|A pie chart showing global military expenditures by country for 2019, in US$ billions, according to SIPRI]]
[[File:Military Expenditures as percent of GDP 2017.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of military expenditures as a percentage of [[gross domestic product|GDP]] by country, 2017<ref>'''2017''' data from: {{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS|title=Military expenditure (% of GDP). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ( SIPRI ), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.|website=[[:en:World Bank|World Bank]]|access-date=2019-03-08}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=July 2019}}]]
{{See also|List of countries by military expenditures}}
The US spends more on national defense than China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil combined.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Defense Spending Compared to Other Countries|url=http://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0053_defense-comparison|access-date=2021-04-22|website=www.pgpf.org|language=en}}</ref> The 2018 US military budget accounts for approximately 36% of global arms spending (for comparison, US GDP is only 24% of global GDP<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_gdp_as_a_percentage_of_world_gdp|title=US GDP as % of World GDP: 24.08% for 2017 |website=ycharts.com|language=en|access-date=2019-03-08}}</ref>). The 2018 budget is approximately 2.5 times larger than the $250{{nbsp}}billion [[Military budget of the People's Republic of China|military budget of China]]. The US and its close allies are responsible for two-thirds to three-quarters of the world's [[List of countries by military expenditures|military spending]] (of which, in turn, the US is responsible for the majority).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending|title=World Military Spending|work=globalissues.org|date=30 June 2013 |access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="Facts">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spending.htm|title=World Wide Military Expenditures|year=2006|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org|access-date=10 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://armscontrolcenter.org/issues/securityspending/articles/fy09_dod_request_global/index.html|title=The FY 2009 Pentagon Spending Request – Global Military Spending|publisher=Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation|work=armscontrolcenter.org|access-date=26 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055042/http://armscontrolcenter.org/issues/securityspending/articles/fy09_dod_request_global/index.html|archive-date=21 September 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The US also maintains the largest number of military bases on foreign soil in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175338/|title=Tomgram: Nick Turse, The Pentagon's Planet of Bases|work=tomdispatch.com|date=9 January 2011 |access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref> While there are no freestanding foreign bases permanently located in the US, there are now around 800 US bases in foreign countries. Military spending makes up nearly 16% of entire federal spending and approximately half of discretionary spending. In a general sense discretionary spending (defense and non-defense spending) makes up one-third of the annual federal budget.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0053_defense-comparison |title=The United States spends roughly 16 percent of all federal spending and almost half of discretional spending |date=3 May 2017 |website=pgpf.org |access-date=12 May 2017}}</ref>


In 2016, the US spent 3.29% of its GDP on its military (considering only basic Department of Defense budget spending), more than France's 2.26% and less than [[Saudi Arabia]]'s 9.85%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613005240/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 June 2007|title=Rank Order – Military expenditures percent of GDP|author=[[CIA World Factbook]]|access-date=8 March 2019}}</ref> This is historically low for the US since it peaked in 1944 at 37.8% of GDP (it reached the lowest point of 3.0% in 1999–2001). Even during the peak of the [[Vietnam War]] the percentage reached a high of 9.4% in 1968.<ref name="tp">{{cite web|url=http://www.truthandpolitics.org/military-relative-size.php|title=Relative Size of US Military Spending from 1940 to 2003|publisher=TruthAndPolitics.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040421054444/http://www.truthandpolitics.org/military-relative-size.php|archive-date=21 April 2004|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Republican historian [[Robert Kagan]] has argued that 2009 is not the time to cut defense spending, relating such spending to jobs and support for allies: "A reduction in defense spending this year would unnerve American allies and undercut efforts to gain greater cooperation. There is already a sense around the world...that the United States is in terminal decline. Many fear that the economic crisis will cause the United States to pull back from overseas commitments. The announcement of a defense cutback would be taken by the world as evidence that the American retreat has begun."<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/02/AR2009020202618.html Robert Kagan &ndash; Washington Post]</ref>


In 2018, the US spent 3.2% of its GDP on its military, while Saudi Arabia spent 8.8%, [[Israel]] spent 4.3%, [[Pakistan]] spent 4.0%, [[Russia]] spent 3.9%, [[South Korea]] spent 2.6%, [[China]] spent 1.9%, [[United Kingdom]] spent 1.8%, and [[Germany]] spent 1.2% of its GDP on defense.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Biggest Military Budgets As A Share Of GDP In 2018 [Infographic] |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/04/29/the-biggest-military-budgets-as-a-share-of-gdp-in-2018-infographic/ |work=Forbes |date=29 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://sipri.org/sites/default/files/2019-04/fs_1904_milex_2018_0.pdf |title=Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2018 |publisher=[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] |first1=Nan |last1=Tian |first2=Aude |last2=Fleurant |first3=Alexandra |last3=Kuimova |first4=Pieter D. |last4=Wezeman |first5=Siemon T. |last5=Wezeman |date=28 April 2019 }}</ref>
U.S. Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] wrote in January 2009 that the U.S. should adjust its priorities and spending to address the changing nature of threats in the world: "What all these potential adversaries—from terrorist cells to rogue nations to rising powers—have in common is that they have learned that it is unwise to confront the United States directly on conventional military terms. The United States cannot take its current dominance for granted and needs to invest in the programs, platforms, and personnel that will ensure that dominance's persistence. But it is also important to keep some perspective. As much as the U.S. Navy has shrunk since the end of the Cold War, for example, in terms of tonnage, its battle fleet is still larger than the next 13 navies combined—and 11 of those 13 navies are U.S. allies or partners."<ref>[http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20090101faessay88103/robert-m-gates/how-to-reprogram-the-pentagon.html Gates-A Balanced Strategy]</ref> Secretary Gates announced some of his budget recommendations in April 2009.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/id/2215491/ Slate-Gates Follows Through]</ref>


The US military's budget has plateaued in 2009, but is still considerably larger than any other military power.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/02/how-us-defense-spending-stacks-up-against-the-rest-of-the-world.html|title=Here's how US defense spending stacks up against the rest of the world|last=Schoen|first=John W.|date=2017-05-02|work=CNBC|access-date=2017-11-24}}</ref>
The [[Congressional Research Service]] has noted a discrepancy between a budget that is declining as a percentage of GDP while the responsibilities of the DoD have not decreased and additional pressures on the defense budget have arisen due to broader missions in the post-9/11 world, dramatic increases in personnel and operating costs, and new requirements resulting from wartime lessons in the [[Iraq War]] and [[Operation Enduring Freedom]].<ref>[http://opencrs.com/getfile.php?rid=82228 CRS Defense: FY2010 Authorization and Appropriations, pages 6&ndash;8]</ref>


== Past commentary on military budget ==
==See also==
In 2009 [[Robert Gates]], then [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]], wrote that the US should adjust its priorities and spending to address the changing nature of threats in the world: "What all these potential adversaries—from terrorist cells to rogue nations to rising powers—have in common is that they have learned that it is unwise to confront the United States directly on conventional military terms. The United States cannot take its current dominance for granted and needs to invest in the programs, platforms, and personnel that will ensure that dominance's persistence. But it is also important to keep some perspective. As much as the US Navy has shrunk since the end of the Cold War, for example, in terms of tonnage, its battle fleet is still larger than the next 13 navies combined—and 11 of those 13 navies are US allies or partners."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1346|title=Speech|publisher=Defense.gov|access-date=25 November 2012}}</ref> Secretary Gates announced some of his budget recommendations in April 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2215491/|title=Robert Gates follows through on his promises to reform the Pentagon|work=Slate Magazine|access-date=25 March 2015|date=2009-04-06}}</ref>
{{wikinews|Global annual military spending tops $1.2 trillion}}


According to a 2009 [[Congressional Research Service]] report there was a discrepancy between a budget that is declining as a percentage of GDP while the responsibilities of the DoD have not decreased and additional pressures on the military budget have arisen due to broader missions in the [[post-9/11]] world, dramatic increases in personnel and operating costs, and new requirements resulting from wartime lessons in the [[Iraq War]] and [[Operation Enduring Freedom]].<ref>[http://opencrs.com/getfile.php?rid=82228 CRS Defense: FY2010 Authorization and Appropriations, pages 6–8] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731012845/http://opencrs.com/getfile.php?rid=82228|date=31 July 2009}}</ref>
* [[United States military aid]]
* [[United States Foreign Military Financing]]
* [[Foreign Military Sales]]
* [[Foreign policy of the United States]]
* [[United States and state terrorism]]
* [[Overseas expansion of the United States]]
* [[Overseas interventions of the United States]]
* [[List of United States military history events]]
* [[List of United States military bases]]
* [[List of countries and federations by military expenditures]]
* [[List of countries by size of armed forces]]


Expenses for fiscal years 2001 through 2010 were analyzed by [[Russell Rumbaugh]], a retired Army officer and ex-CIA military analyst, in a report for the Stimson Center.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rumbaugh|first1=Russell|title=What We Bought: Defense Procurement from FY01 to FY10 (Oct. 31, 2011)|date=31 October 2011|url=https://www.stimson.org/content/what-we-bought-defense-procurement-fy01-fy10|publisher=Stimson Center|access-date=6 December 2017}}</ref> Rumbaugh wrote: "Between 1981 and 1990, the Air Force bought 2,063 fighters. In contrast, between 2001 and 2010, it bought only 220. Yet between 2001 and 2010 the Air Force spent $38B of procurement funding just on fighter aircraft in inflation-adjusted dollars, compared with the $68B it spent between 1981 and 1990. In other words, the Air Force spent 55 percent as much money to get 10 percent as many fighters." As Adam Weinstein explained one of the report's findings: "Of the roughly $1{{nbsp}}trillion spent on gadgetry since 9/11, 22 percent of it came from supplemental war funding{{Snd}}annual outlays that are voted on separately from the regular defense budget."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Weinstein|first1=Adam|title=Report: Military Blew $1 Trillion on Weapons Since 9/11|journal=Mother Jones|date=2 November 2011|url=http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/military-trillion-dollar-weapons-spending|access-date=6 December 2017}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}


Most of the $5{{nbsp}}billion in budget cuts for 2013 that were mandated by Congress in 2012 really only shifted expenses from the general military budget to the Afghanistan war budget. Declaring that nearly 65,000 troops were temporary rather than part of the permanent forces resulted in the reallocation of $4{{nbsp}}billion in existing expenses to this different budget.<ref>Bender, Bryan. [https://archive.today/20120708074757/http://articles.boston.com/2012-03-03/news/31119978_1_budget-cuts-war-budget-war-funding "Pentagon accused of end run on budget cuts."] ''Boston Globe''. 3 March 2012.</ref>
==External links==
[[File:2010-03-20 13-16-37stpetestopthemilitarismfundhumanneedsnotwar.JPG|thumb|Anti-war protest in Washington, D.C., 20 March 2010]]
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/comptroller/defbudget/fy2008/ "Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)"] Annual Department of Defense budget materials.
In May 2012, as part of Obama's East Asia "pivot", his 2013 national military request moved funding from the Army and Marines to favor the Navy, but Congress has resisted this.<ref>Pellerin, Cheryl. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2012/05/mil-120530-afps04.htm "Carter: DOD Puts Strategy Before Budget for Future Force."] ''American Forces Press Service'', 30 May 2012.</ref>
* [http://www.militarybudget.info/ "MilitaryBudget.info"] Information and news about the defense budget.

Reports emerged in February 2014 that Secretary of Defense [[Chuck Hagel]] was planning to trim the defense budget by billions of dollars. The secretary in his first defense budget planned to limit pay rises, increase fees for healthcare benefits, freeze the pay of senior officers, reduce military housing allowances, and reduce the size of the force.

In July 2014, [[American Enterprise Institute]] scholar [[Michael Auslin]] opined in the National Review that the Air Force needs to be fully funded as a priority, due to the air superiority, global airlift, and long-range strike capabilities it provides.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/383556/air-forces-vital-role-michael-auslin|title=National Review|work=National Review Online|access-date=25 March 2015|date=2014-07-24}}</ref>

In January 2015 Defense Department published its internal study on how to save $125{{nbsp}}billion on its military budget from 2016 to 2020 by renegotiating vendor contracts and pushing for stronger deals, and by offering workers early retirement and retraining.<ref name="NYT_2016_Pentagon">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/us/politics/pentagon-defense-budget.html|title=Pentagon Denies Suppressing Study on Ways to Save $125 Billion|last=Cooper|first=Helene|date=6 December 2016|access-date=26 February 2017|issn=0362-4331|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== 2012 fiscal cliff ===
On 5 December 2012, the Department of Defense announced it was planning for automatic spending cuts, which include $500{{nbsp}}billion and an additional $487{{nbsp}}billion due to the 2011 Budget Control Act, due to the [[United States fiscal cliff|fiscal cliff]].<ref name="atl dec 8">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/12/why-not-push-the-pentagon-off-the-fiscal-cliff/266026/|title=Why Not Push the Pentagon off the Fiscal Cliff?|last=Wright|first=Robert|date=7 December 2012|magazine=The Atlantic|access-date=7 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="ABC dec 8">{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/12/pentagon-begins-planning-for-500b-in-fiscal-cliff-cuts/|title=Pentagon Begins Planning for $500B in 'Fiscal Cliff' Cuts|last=Martinez|first=Luis|date=5 December 2012 <!-- at 6:55&nbsp;pm -->|publisher=ABC|access-date=8 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="CNN Dec 8 cliff">{{cite web|url=http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/05/pentagon-told-to-start-planning-for-fiscal-cliff-cuts/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207084737/http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/05/pentagon-told-to-start-planning-for-fiscal-cliff-cuts/|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 December 2012|title=Pentagon told to start planning for fiscal cliff cuts |last=Mount |first=Mike |date=5 December 2012 |publisher=CNN|access-date=8 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="IE Dec 8 cliff">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-months-of-delay-pentagon-told-to-plan-for-fiscal-cliff/1041336/0|title=After months of delay, Pentagon told to plan for 'fiscal cliff'|date=6 December 2012 |newspaper=Indian Express|access-date=8 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="UK Reuters dec 8 cliff">{{Cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/usa-fiscal-defense-idUKL1E8N55N020121205|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110170524/http://uk.reuters.com/article/usa-fiscal-defense-idUKL1E8N55N020121205|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 January 2016|title=UPDATE 2-After months of delay, Pentagon told to plan for 'fiscal cliff' |last=Alexander |first=David |date=5 December 2012 |publisher=United Kingdom Reuters|access-date=8 December 2012|newspaper=Reuters}}</ref> According to ''[[Politico]]'', the Department of Defense declined to explain to the [[United States House Appropriations Committee|House of Representatives Appropriations Committee]], which controls federal spending, what its plans were regarding the fiscal cliff planning.<ref name="Politico NP Dec 8 cliff">{{cite web |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/house-gop-no-plan-b-moves-afoot-on-cliff-84732_Page2.html |title=W.H. to House GOP: We're not moving |last1=Sherman |first1=Jake |date=6 December 2012 |publisher=Politico |page=2 |access-date=8 December 2012 |first2=John |last2=Bresnahan |first3=Carrie |last3=Budoff-Brown}}</ref>

This was after half a dozen members of Congress very experienced in military matters either resigned from Congress or lost their reelection fights, including [[Joe Lieberman]] (I-CT).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/defense-military-pentagon-cuts-84820.html |title=Many old-time defense hawks take flight|author1=Darren Samuelsohn |author2=Stephanie Gaskell |name-list-style=amp |work=Politico |date=9 December 2012 |access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref>

[[Lawrence Korb]] has noted that given recent trends military entitlements and personnel costs will take up the entire defense budget by 2039.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3cbaa920-63b6-11e2-84d8-00144feab49a.html|title=Pentagon faces a rebel yell over pensions|work=Financial Times|access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref>

== GAO audits ==
The GAO was unable to provide an audit opinion on the 2010 financial statements of the US government due to "widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations."<ref name="GAO press release"/> The GAO cited as the principal obstacle to its provision of an audit opinion "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense that made its financial statements unauditable."<ref name="GAO press release"/>

In FY2011, seven out of 33 DoD reporting entities received unqualified audit opinions.<ref name="DoDFY2011">{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/afr/fy2011/DoD_FY11_Agency_Financial_Report.pdf|title=FY 2011 DoD Agency Financial Report (''vid.'' pp. 25–29)|publisher=[[Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|Comptroller, Department of Defense]]|access-date=13 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415102105/http://comptroller.defense.gov/afr/fy2011/DoD_FY11_Agency_Financial_Report.pdf|archive-date=15 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Under Secretary of Defense Robert F. Hale acknowledged enterprise-wide weaknesses with controls and systems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/afr/fy2011/DoD_FY11_Agency_Financial_Report.pdf|title=FY 2011 DoD Agencywide Agency Financial Report (''vid.'' p.45)|publisher=[[Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|Comptroller, Department of Defense]]|access-date=13 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415102105/http://comptroller.defense.gov/afr/fy2011/DoD_FY11_Agency_Financial_Report.pdf|archive-date=15 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Further management discussion in the FY2011 DoD Financial Report states "we are not able to deploy the vast numbers of accountants that would be required to reconcile our books manually".<ref name="DoDFY2011" /> Congress has established a deadline of FY2017 for the DoD to achieve [[Audit#Accounting|audit readiness]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/FIAR/documents/FIAR_Plan_May_2011.pdf|title=Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Plan Status Report|publisher=[[Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|Comptroller, Department of Defense]]|access-date=13 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021043637/http://comptroller.defense.gov/fiar/documents/FIAR_Plan_May_2011.pdf|archive-date=21 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

For FYs 1998–2010 the Department of Defense's financial statements were either unauditable or such that no audit opinion could be expressed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/afr/fy2011/DoD_FY11_Agency_Financial_Report.pdf|title=DoD Agency Financial Report for FY 2011 (''vid.'' p.46)|publisher=[[Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|Comptroller, Department of Defense]]|access-date=13 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415102105/http://comptroller.defense.gov/afr/fy2011/DoD_FY11_Agency_Financial_Report.pdf|archive-date=15 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|title=DoD Agency Financial Report for FY 2010 (''vid.'' p.44)|publisher=[[Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|Comptroller, Department of Defense]]|access-date=13 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027120232/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2010/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2010_DoD_Agencywide_Agency%20Financial%20Report.pdf|archive-date=27 October 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2009/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2009_Department_of_Defense_Agencywide_Agency_Financial_Report.pdf|title=DoD Agency Financial Report for FY 2009 (''vid.'' p.23)|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182637/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2009/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2009_Department_of_Defense_Agencywide_Agency_Financial_Report.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2008/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2008_Department_of_Defense_Agency_Wide_Financial_%20Statements_and_Notes.pdf|title=FY 2008 Agency Financial Report (''vid.'' p.21)|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182818/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2008/01_DoD_Agency-Wide/Fiscal_Year_2008_Department_of_Defense_Agency_Wide_Financial_%20Statements_and_Notes.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/afr/fy2007/Entire_Document_(5.1_KB).pdf|title=DoD Agency Financial Report FY 2007 (''vid.'' p.17)|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/par/fy2006/Entire_Document_(7.8_MB).pdf|title=DoD Performance and Accountability Report FY 2006 (''vid.'' p.74)|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/par/fy2005/FY%2005%20DoD%20PAR_all%20.pdf|title=DoD Performance and Accountability Report FY 2005 (''vid.'' p.137)|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182444/http://comptroller.defense.gov/par/fy2005/FY%2005%20DoD%20PAR_all%20.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="FY0432">{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2004.html|title=FY 2004, FY 2003, FY 2002 Component Financial Statements|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212041033/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2004.html|archive-date=12 December 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2001/11_Audit-Opinion-Agency-Wide-FY2001.pdf|title=DoD Agency-Wide Financial Statements Audit Opinion FY 2001|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182723/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2001/11_Audit-Opinion-Agency-Wide-FY2001.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2000/11_Section_8_FY2000.pdf|title=DoD Agency-Wide Financial Statements Audit Opinion FY 2000|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182716/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy2000/11_Section_8_FY2000.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy1999/11_Part_K_Sec_8.pdf|title=DoD Agency-Wide Financial Statements Audit Opinion FY 1999|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182347/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy1999/11_Part_K_Sec_8.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy1998/09_DoD98-Seq-I-Opinion-Section.pdf|title=DoD Agency-Wide Financial Statements Audit Opinion FY 1998|publisher=Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)|access-date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182812/http://comptroller.defense.gov/cfs/fy1998/09_DoD98-Seq-I-Opinion-Section.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Several years behind other government agencies, the first results from an army of about 2,400 contracted DoD auditors are expected on 15 November 2018.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/08/569394885/pentagon-announces-first-ever-audit-of-the-department-of-defense Pentagon Announces First-Ever Audit Of The Department Of Defense]</ref>{{Needs update|date=August 2023}}

== Post–World War II overview and reform ==
===Post–World War II===

The conclusion of [[World War II]] and the start of the Cold War prompted the rapid expansion of an [[arms race]]. Subsequently, the reallocation of budgets, prompted by several wars and proxy wars forced the Department of Defense to increase research and development of new military systems and equipment to proliferate on a mass scale to compete with, at the time, the [[Soviet Union]]. On 17 January 1961, then-President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in a farewell address to the US warned the people and government about the creation of a "[[military-industrial complex]]". As prompted by President Eisenhower, the war had arguably become an industry. It was also speculated by Eisenhower that the [[arms industry]] would bring war-like industrial influence into the various sectors of government. He stated: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-29 |title=President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961) |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-dwight-d-eisenhowers-farewell-address |access-date=2022-08-21 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref>

Following the departure of President Eisenhower, the expenditures and budgets of the US military grew exponentially. The [[Cold War]] (1947{{ndash}}1991) developed the largest proliferation of a nuclear arsenal to date. New defense contractors stood up to supply the demand for the military and its various conflicts across the globe. In addition, the Vietnam War was the largest expenditure during the Cold War at approximately $168{{nbsp}}billion or about $1{{nbsp}}trillion in today's{{when|date=August 2023}} inflated costs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ostrom |first1=Charles W. |last2=Marra |first2=Robin F. |date=1986 |title=U.S. Defense Spending and the Soviet Estimate |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1960540 |journal=The American Political Science Review |volume=80 |issue=3 |pages=819–842 |doi=10.2307/1960540 |jstor=1960540 |s2cid=147213709 |issn=0003-0554}}</ref>

In a statement of 6 January 2011, Defense Secretary [[Robert M. Gates]] stated: "This department simply cannot risk continuing down the same path{{Snd}}where our investment priorities, [[bureaucracy|bureaucratic]] habits and lax attitude towards costs are increasingly divorced from the real threats of today, the growing perils of tomorrow and the nation's grim financial outlook." Gates has proposed a budget that, if approved by Congress, would reduce the costs of many DoD programs and policies, including reports, the [[IT infrastructure]], fuel, weapon programs, DoD bureaucracies, and personnel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=62351 |title=Gates Reveals Budget Efficiencies, Reinvestment Possibilities |publisher=US Department of Defense |access-date=11 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108034831/http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=62351 |archive-date=8 January 2011 }}</ref>

The 2015 expenditure for Army research, development and acquisition changed from $32{{nbsp}}billion projected in 2012 for FY2015, to $21{{nbsp}}billion for FY2015 expected in 2014.<ref>Drwiega, Andrew. "[http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/services/finance-and-insurance/Missions-Solutions-Summit-Army-Leaders-Warn-of-Rough-Ride-Ahead_82218.html Missions Solutions Summit: Army Leaders Warn of Rough Ride Ahead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714153025/http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/services/finance-and-insurance/Missions-Solutions-Summit-Army-Leaders-Warn-of-Rough-Ride-Ahead_82218.html |date=14 July 2014 }}" ''Rotor&Wing'', 4 June 2014. Accessed: 8 June 2014.</ref>

In 2018, it was announced that the Department of Defense was the subject of a comprehensive budgetary audit. This review was conducted by private, third-party accounting consultants. The audit ended and was deemed incomplete due to deficient accounting practices in the department.

In FY2022, the US had the largest defense budget and expenditures of any other country in the world totaling around $777.1{{nbsp}}billion. The rise in the military budget over the last decade can be traced to the production of new technologies such as a 5th generation fighter aircraft to meet the increase in demand for new combat capabilities. Many of these costs were the result of R&D, or research and development. Research and development is one of the US's primary focuses in the defense budget.<ref name="FY22 Defense budget breakdown">{{Cite web |title=FY22 Defense budget breakdown |url=https://about.bgov.com/defense-budget-breakdown/ |access-date=2022-08-21 |website=Bloomberg Government |language=en-US}}</ref>

Opponents of growing military spending budgets have long argued that the US should refocus and reallocate the military budgets to promote [[Welfare|social welfare]]. However, the projections for the near future are that the defense budget and its expenditures are only going to continue to grow exponentially. In the published FY2022 budget report, the authority has been given to increase the defense budget by about $17{{nbsp}}billion ($535{{nbsp}}billion of which is a part of contract obligations) from FY2021. In addition, the [[Biden administration]] has proposed another increase of the FY2023 budget to $737{{nbsp}}billion. On the contrary, proponents of increasing the US Defense budgets have long argued that factors such as China and other adversaries of the US must be kept in check (from a military standpoint).<ref name="FY22 Defense budget breakdown" />

== References ==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1 =Stiglitz |first1 =Joseph E. |author-link1 =Joseph E. Stiglitz |last2 =Bilmes |first2 =Linda J. |author-link2 =<!--There is no page (date =12 Feb. '20): Linda J. Bilmes--> |year =2008 |title =[[The Three Trillion Dollar War]]: The true cost of the Iraq conflict |edition =1st. |publisher =[[W. W. Norton]] & company |location =New York |language =en |isbn =9780393067019 }}

== External links ==
* [http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_spending US Government Defense Spending History with Charts - a www.usgovernmentspending.com briefing] ([https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_spending archived])


{{US military navbox}}
{{US military navbox}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Military Budget Of The United States}}
[[Category:United States Department of Defense]]
[[Category:United States Department of Defense]]
[[Category:United States federal budgets]]
[[Category:United States federal budgets]]
[[Category:Military budgets|United States]]

[[sv:USA:s militära budget]]

Latest revision as of 08:13, 21 November 2024

Military budget of China, USSR, Russia and US in constant 2021 US$ billions
Military spending as a percent of federal government revenue

The military budget of the United States is the largest portion of the discretionary federal budget allocated to the Department of Defense (DoD), or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. The military budget pays the salaries, training, and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new items. The budget funds six branches of the US military: the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Space Force.

Budget for FY2025

[edit]

As of 11 March 2024 the US Department of Defense fiscal year 2025 (FY2025) budget request was $849.8 billion.[a]

Budget for FY2024

[edit]

As of 10 March 2023 the fiscal year 2024 (FY2024) presidential budget request was $842 billion.[b] In January 2023 Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the US government would hit its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on 19 January 2023;[16] the date on which the US government would no longer be able to use extraordinary measures such as issuance of Treasury securities is estimated to be in June 2023.[17] On 3 June 2023, the debt ceiling was suspended until 2025.[18] The $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act is facing reconciliation of the House and Senate bills after passing both houses 27 July 2023; the conferees have to be chosen, next.[19][20][21] As of September 2023, a Continuing resolution is needed to prevent a Government shutdown.[22][23][24] A shutdown was avoided on 30 September for 45 days (until 17 November 2023),[25][26][27][28] with passage of the NDAA on 14 December 2023.[29] The Senate will next undertake negotiations on supplemental spending for 2024.[30][31] A government shutdown was averted on 23 March 2024 with the signing of a $1.2 trillion bill to cover FY2024.[32][33]

Budget for FY2023

[edit]

As of March 2022, the defense department was operating under a continuing resolution,[34] which constrains spending even though DoD has to respond to world events, such as the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine;[34][35][8][9] the FY2023 defense budget request will exceed $773 billion, according to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.[36] By 9 March 2022 a bipartisan agreement on a $782 billion defense budget had been reached (as part of an overall $1.5 trillion budget for FY2022 – thus avoiding a government shutdown).[37]

As of 4 April 2022 the FY2023 presidential budget request of $773 billion included $177.5 billion for the Army,[38][39] $194 billion for the Air Force and Space Force,[40] and $230.8 billion for the Navy and Marine Corps (up 4.1% from FY2022 request).[41] As of 12 December 2022 the House and Senate versions of the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (FY2023 NDAA) were to be $839 billion, and $847 billion, for the HASC, and SASC respectively, for a compromise $857.9 billion top line.[42] By 16 December 2022 the current budget extension resolution will have expired.[43] The President signed the FY2023 Appropriations bill on 23 December 2022.[44]

US military spending in 2021 reached $801 billion per year according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Budget for FY2022

[edit]

In May 2021, the President's defense budget request for FY2022 was $715 billion, up $10 billion from the $705 billion FY2021 request.[45] The total FY2022 defense budget request, including the Department of Energy, was $753 billion, up $12 billion from FY2021's request.[45][46] On 22 July 2021 the Senate Armed Services Committee approved a budget $25 billion greater than the President's request.[47][48][7] The National Defense Authorization Act, budgeting $740 billion for defense, was signed 27 December 2021.[49]

By military department,[50][51][52] the Army's portion of the budget request, $173 billion, dropped $3.6 billion from the enacted FY2021 budget;[53][54][55] the Department of the Navy's portion of the budget request, $211.7 billion, rose 1.8% from the enacted FY2021 budget, largely due to a 6% increase for the Marine Corps' restructuring into a littoral combat force (Navy request: $163.9 billion, or just 0.6% over FY2021, Marine Corps request: $47.9 billion, a 6.2% increase over FY2021);[56] the Air Force's $156.3 billion request for FY2022 is a 2.3% increase over FY2021 enacted budget; the Space Force budget of $17.4 billion is a 13.1% increase over FY2021 enacted budget.[57] Overseas contingency operations (OCOs) are now replaced by "direct war and enduring costs", which are now migrated into the budget.[51] After the release of the FY2022 budget requests to Congress, the military departments also posted their Unfunded priorities/requirements lists for the Congressional Armed Services Committees.[58][59][60][61][62]

Budget for FY2021

[edit]

For FY2021, the Department of Defense's discretionary budget authority was approximately $705.39 billion ($705,390,000,000). Mandatory spending of $10.77 billion, the Department of Energy and defense-related spending of $37.335 billion added up to the total FY2021 Defense budget of $753.5 billion.[46] FY2021 was the last year for OCOs as shown by the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) investments for the future are offset by the OCO cuts, and by reduced procurement of legacy materiel.[45][63]

Budget summary for FY2021 with projections for FY2022–2025

[edit]

(Expenditures listed in millions of dollars)

Function and subfunction[46] FY2019 total[46] FY2020[46] FY2021[46] FY2022 total[46] FY2023 total[46] FY2024 total[46] FY2025 total[46]
Base OCO Emergency Total Base OCO Total
051 - DoD discretionary
Military personnel (no MERHFC)[c] 141,851 142,446 4,486 146,932 150,524 4,603 155,126 158,117 162,796 167,495 171,897
Operation and maintenance 281,801 234,885 53,735 977 289,597 230,352 58,569 288,921 279,501 282,530 296,585 301,993
Procurement 146,533 131,734 11,590 431 143,754 131,756 5,128 136,884 137,746 149,108 157,060 161,930
RDT&E 95,304 103,520 834 130 104,485 106,225 331 106,555 104,839 101,821 100,254 99,961
Revolving and management funds 1,873 1,564 20 234 1,818 1,349 20 1,369 1,347 1,358 1,381 1,410
DoD bill (no MERHFC) 667,362 614,149 70,665 1,772 686,586 620,206 68,651 688,855 681,550 697,613 722,775 737,191
Medicare-eligible retiree health fund contribution (MERHFC) 7,533 7,817 7,817 8,373 8,373 8,819 9,270 9,752 10,255
DoD bill with MERHFC 674,895 621,966 70,665 1,772 694,403 628,579 68,651 697,228 690,369 706,883 732,527 747,446
Military construction 11,332 9,850 645 6,229 16,723 6,462 350 6,812 10,036 8,623 8,379 9,233
Family housing 1,565 1,465 1,465 1,351 1,351 1,497 1,556 1,649 1,655
Military construction bill 12,897 11,315 645 6,229 18,188 7,813 350 8,163 11,533 10,179 10,028 10,888
Allowances 38
Outyears placeholder for OCO 20,000 20,000 10,000 10,000
051 - Total DoD discretionary (DoD record) 687,830 633,281 71,310 8,000 712,591 636,392 69,000 705,392 721,902 737,063 752,555 768,334
Scoring and rounding 22 5
051 - Total DoD discretionary (OMB record) 687,852 712,596 705,392 721,902 737,063 752,555 768,334
051 - DoD mandatory
Military personnel 7,909 8,505 10,605 10,898 11,136 11,389 11,628
Operation and maintenance 1,328 997 1,368 1,184 1,154 1,173 1,193
Procurement 266 252 289
RDT&E 230 240 153
Revolving and management funds 16,742
DoD bill 26,475 9,994 12,415 12,082 12,290 12,562 12,821
Military construction
Family housing 39 36
Military construction bill 39 36
Trust funds 442 755 484 530 615 230 229
Offsetting receipts -2,194 -1,753 -2,043 -1,922 -1,892 -1,912 -1,933
Interfund transactions -46 -91 -86 -83 -79 -77 -74
051 - Total DoD mandatory (DoD record) 24,716 8,941 10,770 10,608 10,934 10,804 11,044
Scoring and rounding 2 7 5 309 200 115 41
051 - Total DoD mandatory (OMB record) 24,718 8,948 10,775 10,917 11,134 10,919 11,085

Budget for FY2020

[edit]

For fiscal year 2020 (FY2020), the Department of Defense's budget authority was approximately $721.5 billion ($721,531,000,000). Approximately $712.6 billion is discretionary spending with approximately $8.9 billion in mandatory spending. The Department of Defense estimates that $689.6 billion ($689,585,000,000) will actually be spent (outlays).[64] Both left-wing and right-wing commentators have advocated for the cutting of military spending.[65][66][67][68]

Budget for FY2019

[edit]

For FY2019, the Department of Defense's budget authority was $693,058,000,000 (including discretionary and mandatory budget authority).[69]

Budget request for FY2019

[edit]

In February 2018, the Pentagon requested $686 billion for FY2019.[70]

The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act authorized Department of Defense appropriations for 2019 and established policies, but it did not contain the budget itself. On 26 July, this bill passed in the House of Representatives by 359–54. On 1 August, the US Senate passed it by 87–10. The bill was presented to President Trump two days later. He signed it on 13 August.[71][72][73]

On 28 September 2018, Trump signed the Department of Defense appropriations bill. The approved 2019 Department of Defense discretionary budget was $686.1 billion.[74] It has also been described as "$617 billion for the base budget and another $69 billion for war funding."[75]

Total overview

[edit]
National defense budget authority – discretionary and mandatory (in millions)[69]
(Discretionary budget authority) + OCO + emergency (combined) FY2019
Military personnel (without MERHFC) $143,198
Operations and maintenance $278,803
Procurement $147,287
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation $95,253
Revolving and management funds $1,656
Defense bill (without MERHFC) $666,197
Medicare-eligible retiree health fund contribution (MERHFC) $7,533
Department of Defense bill + MERHFC $673,730
Military construction $9,688
Family housing $1,565
Military construction bill $11,253
Total base + OCO + emergency (DoD record) $684,985
Total DoD mandatory (DoD record) $8,073
DoD total $693,058

For personnel payment and benefits

[edit]

Personnel payment and benefits take up approximately 39.14% of the total budget of $686,074,048,000.[76]

Pay and benefits funding (in billions, base budget only)[76]
Pay and benefits funding FY2019
Military personnel appropriations $140.7
Medicare-eligible retiree health care accruals $7.5
Defense health program $34.2
DoD Education Activity $3.4
Family housing $1.6
Commissary subsidy $1.3
Other benefit programs $3.4
Military pay and benefits $192.0
Civilian pay and benefits $76.4
Total pay and benefits $268.5

By overseas contingency operation

[edit]

Overseas contingency operations (OCO) funds are sometimes called war funds.[77]

OCO funding by operation/activity (in billions)
Operation/activity FY2019
Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) and related missions $46.3
Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) and related missions $15.3
European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) $6.5
Security cooperation $0.9
Grand total $69.0

By military department

[edit]
DoD Total (base + OCO + emergency) budget by military department (in billions)
Discretionary budget authority FY2019[76]
Department of the Army $182
Department of the Navy (including Marines) $194.1
Department of the Air Force $194.2
Defense-wide $115.8

Military health care funding

[edit]
Military health care funding (in billions, base budget only)[76]
Program FY2019
Defense health (DHP) $33.7
Military personnel $8.9
Military construction $0.4
Health care accrual $7.5
Unified medical budget $50.6
Treasury receipts for current Medicare-eligible retirees $11.1

The MHS offers, but does not always provide, a health care benefit to 9.5 million eligible beneficiaries, which includes active military members and their families, military retirees and their families, dependent survivors, and certain eligible reserve component members and their families. The unified medical budget (UMB), which comprises the funding and personnel needed to support the MHS' mission, consumes nearly 9% of the department's topline budget authority. Thus, it is a significant line item in the department's financial portfolio.[76]

Budgeting terms

[edit]

Budget authority: the authority to legally incur binding obligations (like signing contracts and placing orders), that will result in current and future outlays. When "military budget" is mentioned, people generally are referring to discretionary budget authority.

Outlays: Also known as expenditures or disbursements, it is the liquidation of obligations and general represent cash payments.

Total obligational authority: DoD financial term expressing the value of the direct defense program for a given fiscal year, exclusive of the obligation authority from other sources (such as reimbursable orders accepted)

Discretionary: Annually appropriated by Congress, subject to budget caps.

Mandatory: budget authority authorized by permanent law.

Previous budgets

[edit]

As of 2013, the Department of Defense was the third largest executive branch department and utilized 20% of the federal budget.

For the 2011 fiscal year, the president's base budget for the Department of Defense and spending on overseas contingency operations totaled $664.84 billion.[78][79]

When the budget was signed into law on 28 October 2009, the final size of the Department of Defense's budget was $680 billion, $16 billion more than President Obama had requested.[80] An additional $37 billion supplemental bill to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was expected to pass in the spring of 2010, but has been delayed by the House of Representatives after passing the Senate.[81][82]

Emergency and supplemental spending

[edit]

The military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were largely funded through supplementary spending bills that supplemented the annual military budget requests for each fiscal year.[83] However, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were categorized as overseas contingency operations beginning in fiscal year 2010, and the budget is included in the federal budget.[citation needed]

By the end of 2008, the US had spent approximately $900 billion in direct costs on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The government also incurred indirect costs, which include interests on additional debt and incremental costs, financed by the Veterans Affairs Department, of caring for more than 33,000 wounded. Some experts estimate the indirect costs will eventually exceed the direct costs.[84] As of June 2011, the total cost of the wars was approximately $1.3 trillion.[85]

By title

[edit]
US 2010 military budget spending

The federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2013 is as follows. While data is provided from the 2015 budget, data for 2014 and 2015 is estimated, and thus data is shown for the last year for which definite data exists (2013).[86]

Components Funding Change, 2012 to 2013
Operations and maintenance $258.277 billion −9.9%
Military personnel $153.531 billion −3.0%
Procurement $97.757 billion −17.4%
Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation $63.347 billion −12.1%
Military construction $8.069 billion −29.0%
Family housing $1.483 billion −12.2%
Other miscellaneous costs $2.775 billion −59.5%
Atomic energy defense activities $17.424 billion −4.8%
Defense-related activities $7.433 billion −3.8%
Total spending $610.096 billion −10.5%

By entity

[edit]
Entity 2010 budget request[87] Percentage Notes
Army $244.8 billion 31.8%
Navy $142.2 billion 23.4% Excluding Marine Corps
Air Force $170.6 billion 22%
Defense-wide joint activities $118.7 billion 15.5%
Marine Corps $11.0 billion 4% Total budget allotted from the Department of the Navy
Defense Intelligence $80.1 billion[88] 3.3% Because of its classified nature, this budget item is an estimate and may not be the actual figure

Programs spending more than $1.5 billion

[edit]

The Department of Defense's FY2011 $137.5 billion procurement and $77.2 billion RDT&E budget requests included several programs worth more than $1.5 billion.

Program 2011 budget request[89] Change, 2010 to 2011
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter $11.4 billion +2.1%
Missile Defense Agency (THAAD, Aegis, GMD, PAC-3) $9.9 billion +7.3%
Virginia class submarine $5.4 billion +28.0%
Brigade combat team Modernization $3.2 billion +21.8%
DDG 51 Burke-class Aegis destroyer $3.0 billion +19.6%
P–8A Poseidon $2.9 billion −1.6%
V-22 Osprey $2.8 billion −6.5%
Carrier replacement program $2.7 billion +95.8%
F/A-18E/F Hornet $2.0 billion +17.4%
Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial system $1.9 billion +57.8%
Littoral combat ship $1.8 billion +12.5%
CVN Refueling and Complex Overhaul $1.7 billion −6.0%
Chemical demilitarization $1.6 billion −7.0%
RQ-4 Global Hawk $1.5 billion +6.7%
Space-Based Infrared System $1.5 billion +54.0%
[edit]

This does not include many military-related items that are outside of the Defense Department budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance, cleanup, and production, which are in the Atomic Energy Defense Activities section,[90] Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department's payments in pensions to military retirees and widows and their families, interest on debt incurred in past wars, or State Department financing of foreign arms sales and militarily-related development assistance. Neither does it include defense spending that is domestic rather than international in nature, such as the Department of Homeland Security, counter-terrorism spending by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and intelligence-gathering spending by NSA, although these programs contain certain weapons, military and security components.

Accounting for non DoD military-related expenditure gives a total budget in excess of $1.4 trillion.[91]

Budget request for FY2018

[edit]

On 16 March 2017 President Trump submitted his request to Congress for $639 billion in military spending (an increase of $54 billion, 10% for FY2018, as well as $30 billion for FY2017, which ends in September). With a total federal budget of $3.9 trillion for FY2018, the increase in military spending would result in deep cuts to many other federal agencies and domestic programs, as well as the State Department.[92][93][94][95] Trump had pledged to "rebuild" the military as part of his 2016 presidential campaign.[96]

In April 2017, journalist Scot J. Paltrow raised concerns about the increase in spending with the Pentagon's history of "faulty accounting".[97]

On 14 July, the National Defense Authorization Act 2018 was passed by the US House of Representatives 344–81, with 8 not voting.[98] 60% of Democrats voted for the bill, which represented an 18% increase in defense spending. Congress increased the budget to total $696 billion.

Budget request for FY2017

[edit]
Appropriated 2016 budget and proposed 2017 budget

The currently available budget request for 2017 was filed on 9 February 2016,[99][100] under then-President Barack Obama.

The press release of the proposal specifies the structure and goals for the FY2017 budget:[99]

The FY2017 budget reflects recent strategic threats and changes that have taken place in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Russian aggression, terrorism by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and others, and China's island building and claims of sovereignty in international waters all necessitate changes in our strategic outlook and in our operational commitments. Threats and actions originating in Iran and North Korea negatively affect our interests and our allies. These challenges have sharpened the focus of our planning and budgeting.

The proposal also includes a comparison of the 2016 and the proposed 2017 request amounts, a summary of acquisitions requested for 2017 and enacted in 2016, and provides in detail a breakdown of specific programs to be funded.

Investments

[edit]
FY2016 enacted FY2017 request Change
Aircraft and related systems 50.6 45.3 −5.3
C4I systems 7.1 7.4 0.3
Ground systems 9.9 9.8 −0.1
Missile defense programs 9.1 8.5 −0.6
Missiles and munitions 12.7 13.9 1.2
Mission support 52.9 52.4 −0.5
Science & technology (S&T) 13.0 12.5 −0.5
Shipbuilding and maritime systems 27.5 27.0 −0.5
Space-based systems 7.0 7.1 0.1
Rescissions −1.8 - +1.8
Total 188 183.9 −4.1

Amounts are in billions of dollars.

Major acquisition programs

[edit]

These are the top 25 DoD weapon programs described in detail. Quantity refers to the number of items requested:

FY2016 FY2017
Quantity Dollars in billions Quantity Dollars in billions
Aircraft
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter 68 11.6 63 10.5
KC-46A Tanker 12 3.0 15 3.3
P-8A Poseidon 17 3.4 11 2.2
V-22 Osprey 20 1.6 16 1.5
E-2D AHE Advanced Hawkeye 5 1.2 6 1.4
AH-64E Apache helicopter 64 1.4 52 1.1
C/HC/MC-130J Hercules 29 2.4 14 1.3
UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter 107 1.8 36 1.0
CH-53K King Stallion helicopter -- 0.6 2 0.8
MQ-4C Triton 4 1.0 2 0.8
H-1 Upgrades Bell helicopter 29 0.9 24 0.8
NGJ Next Generation Jammer increment 1 -- 0.4 -- 0.6
CH-47F Chinook helicopter 39 1.1 22 0.7
Missile defense/missiles
BMDS Ballistic missile defense -- 7.7 -- 6.9
Trident II Trident II missile modifications -- 1.2 -- 1.2
AMRAAM Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile 429 0.7 419 0.7
Ships
SSN 774 Virginia submarine 2 5.7 2 5.3
DDG 51 Aegis destroyer 2 4.4 2 3.5
CVN 78 Ford aircraft carrier -- 2.8 -- 2.8
ORR Ohio replacement -- 1.4 -- 1.9
LHA-6 Amphibious assault ship -- 0.5 1 1.6
LCS Littoral combat ship 3 1.8 2 1.6
Space
AEHF Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite -- 0.6 -- 0.9
EELV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle 4 1.5 5 1.8
Trucks
JLTV Joint Light Tactical Vehicle 804 0.4 2,020 0.7

Science and technology program

[edit]

This program's purpose is to "invest in and develop capabilities that advance the technical superiority of the US military to counter new and emerging threats."[100] It has a budget of $12.5 billion, but is separate from the overall Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation portfolio, which comprises $71.8 billion. Efforts funded apply to the Obama administration's refocusing of the US military to Asia, identifying investments to "sustain and advance [the] DoD's military dominance for the 21st century", counter the "technological advances of US foes",[100] and support Manufacturing Initiative institutes. A breakdown of the amounts provided, by tier of research, is provided:

Program FY2016 request FY2016 enacted FY2017 request Change (FY16 enacted − FY17 request)
Basic research 2.1 2.3 2.1 −0.2
Applied research 4.7 5.0 4.8 −0.2
Advanced technology development 5.5 5.7 5.6 −0.1
Total 12.3 13.0 12.5 -0.5

Total budget by department

[edit]
Total budget FY2016 enacted FY2017 request Change
Army 146,928,044 148,033,950 +1,105,906
Navy 168,786,798 164,861,078 -3,925,720
Air Force 161,783,330 166,879,239 +5,095,909
Defense-wide 102,801,512 102,927,320 +125,808
Total 580,299,684 582,701,587 +2,401,903

Amounts in thousands of dollars

Total budget by component

[edit]
Total budget FY2016 enacted FY2017 request Change
Military personnel 138,552,886 138,831,498 +278,612
Operation and maintenance 244,434,932 250,894,310 +6,459,378
Procurement 118,866,320 112,081,088 -6,785,232
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation 69,009,764 71,765,940 +2,756,176
Revolving and management funds 1,264,782 1,512,246 +247,464
Military construction 6,909,712 6,296,653 -613,059
Family housing 1,261,288 1,319,852 +58,564
Total 580,299,684 582,701,587 +2,401,903

Amounts in thousands of dollars

Funding of payments and benefits
[edit]

This portion of the military budget comprises roughly one third to one half of the total defense budget, considering only military personnel or additionally including civilian personnel, respectively. These expenditures will typically be, the single largest expense category for the department. Since 2001, military pay and benefits have increased by 85%, but remained roughly one third of the total budget due to an overall increased budget. Military pay remains at about the 70th percentile compared to the private sector to attract sufficient amounts of qualified personnel.[100]

Military pay and benefits funding FY2016 enacted FY2017 request
Military personnel appropriations 128.7 128.9
Medicare-eligible retiree health care accruals 6.6 6.4
Defense health program 32.9 33.8
DoD Education Activity 3.1 2.9
Family housing 1.3 1.3
Commissary subsidy 1.4 1.2
Other benefit programs 3.5 3.4
Military pay and benefits funding 177.5 177.9
Civilian pay and benefits funding 71.8 72.9
Total pay and benefits funding 249.3 250.8
DoD base budget authority 521.7 523.9
Military pay and benefits as % of budget 34.0% 34.0%
Total pay and benefits as % of budget 47.8% 47.9%
Funding the military health system
[edit]

The request for 2017 amounts to $48.8 billion. The system has 9.4 million beneficiaries, including active, retired, and eligible reserve component military personnel and their families, and dependent survivors.[100]

Program FY2017 request
Defense health (DHP) 33.5
Military personnel 8.6
Military construction 0.3
Health care accrual 6.4
Unified medical budget 48.8

Budget for 2016

[edit]

On 9 February 2016, the Department of Defense under President Obama released a statement outlining the proposed 2016 and 2017 defense spending budgets that "[reflect] the priorities necessary for our force today and in the future to best serve and protect our nation in a rapidly changing security environment."[99]

Budget by appropriation[99]
Components Dollars in billions
Military personnel 138.6
Operation and maintenance 244.4
Procurement 118.9
RDT&E 69.0
Revolving and management funds 1.3
Military construction 6.9
Family housing 1.3
Total 580.3
Budget by military department[99]
Departments Dollars in billions
Army 146.9
Navy 168.8
Air Force 161.8
Defense-wide 102.8
Total 580.3

Audit of 2011 budget

[edit]

Again in 2011, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) could not "render an opinion on the 2011 consolidated financial statements of the federal government", with a major obstacle again being "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense (DOD) that made its financial statements unauditable".[101]

In December 2011, the GAO found that "neither the Navy nor the Marine Corps have implemented effective processes for reconciling their FBWT." According to the GAO, "An agency's FBWT account is similar in concept to a corporate bank account. The difference is that instead of a cash balance, FBWT represents unexpended spending authority in appropriations." In addition, "As of April 2011, there were more than $22 billion unmatched disbursements and collections affecting more than 10,000 lines of accounting."[102]

Audit of implementation of budget for 2010

[edit]

The GAO was unable to provide an audit opinion on the 2010 financial statements of the US Government due to "widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations."[103] The GAO cited as the principal obstacle to its provision of an audit opinion "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense that made its financial statements unauditable".[103]

In FY2010, six out of thirty-three DoD reporting entities received unqualified audit opinions.[104]

Robert F. Hale, Chief Financial Officer and Under Secretary of Defense, acknowledged enterprise-wide problems with systems and processes,[105] while the DoD's Inspector General reported "material internal control weaknesses ... that affect the safeguarding of assets, proper use of funds, and impair the prevention and identification of fraud, waste, and abuse".[106] Further management discussion in the FY2010 DoD Financial Report states "it is not feasible to deploy a vast number of accountants to manually reconcile our books" and concludes that "although the financial statements are not auditable for FY2010, the Department's financial managers are meeting warfighter needs".[107]

Budget by year

[edit]
Defense Spending as a Percent of GDP 1792–2017
Historical defense spending

The accompanying graphs show that US military spending as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP) peaked during World War II.

The table shows historical spending on defense from 1996 to 2022, spending for 2023–2024 is estimated.[108] The defense budget is shown in billions of dollars and total budget in trillions of dollars. The percentage of the total US federal budget spent on defense is indicated in the third row, and change in defense spending from the previous year in the final row.

Historical defense spending 1996–2024
Year Defense budget (billions) Total budget (trillions) Defense budget % Defense spending % change
2024 $910 $7.05 12.9 +0.6
2023 $905 $6.56 13.8 +8.0
2022 $838 $6.58 12.7 +10.4
2021 $759 $7.14 10.6 −1.9
2020 $774 $7.73 10.0 +3.9
2019 $745 $4.70 15.9 +2.6
2018 $726 $4.46 16.3 +10.7
2017 $656 $4.15 15.8 +5.1
2016 $624 $3.97 15.7 +4.3
2015 $598 $3.77 15.9 −3.9
2014 $622 $3.61 17.2 +2.0
2013 $610 $3.48 17.5 −10.5
2012 $681 $3.58 19.1 −5.0
2011 $717 $3.51 20.4 −0.6
2010 $721 $3.48 20.7 +3.4
2009 $698 $4.08 17.1 +0.2
2008 $696 $3.32 20.9 +11.3
2007 $625 $2.86 21.9 +12.5
2006 $556 $2.78 20.0 +10.0
2005 $506 $2.58 19.6 +3.1
2004 $491 $2.41 20.4 +7.6
2003 $456 $2.27 20.1 +26.0
2002 $362 $2.09 17.3 +8.2
2001 $335 $1.96 17.1 +10.1
2000 $304 $1.82 16.7 +4.0
1999 $292 $1.78 16.4 +7.8
1998 $271 $1.69 16.0 +0.2
1997 $270 $1.64 16.5 +1.6
1996 $266 $1.58 16.8 −0.1

Support service contractors

[edit]

The role of support service contractors has increased since 2001 and in 2007 payments for contractor services exceeded investments in equipment for the armed forces for the first time.[109] In the 2010 budget, the support service contractors will be reduced from the current 39 percent of the workforce down to the pre-2001 level of 26 percent.[110] In a Pentagon review of January 2011, service contractors were found to be "increasingly unaffordable."[111]

Military budget and total federal spending

[edit]
CBO Infographic showing 2023 federal spending

The Department of Defense budget accounted in FY2017 for about 14.8% of federal budgeted expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, defense spending grew 9% annually on average in fiscal years 2000–2009.[112]

Because of constitutional limitations, military funding is appropriated in a discretionary spending account. (Such accounts permit government planners to have more flexibility to change spending each year, as opposed to mandatory spending accounts that mandate spending on programs in accordance with the law, outside of the budgetary process.) In recent years, discretionary spending as a whole has amounted to about one-third of total federal outlays.[113] Department of Defense spending's share of discretionary spending was 50.5% in 2003, and has risen to between 53% and 54% in recent years.[114]

For FY2017, Department of Defense spending amounts to 3.42% of GDP. Because the US GDP has grown over time, the military budget can rise in absolute terms while shrinking as a percentage of the GDP. For example, the Department of Defense budget was slated to be $664 billion in 2010 (including the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan previously funded through supplementary budget legislation[115][116]), higher than at any other point in American history, but still 1.1–1.4% lower as a percentage of GDP than the amount spent on military during the peak of Cold-War military spending in the late 1980s.[117] Admiral Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called four percent an "absolute floor".[118] This calculation does not take into account some other military-related non-DoD spending, such as Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and interest paid on debt incurred in past wars, which has increased even as a percentage of the national GDP.

In 2015, Pentagon and related spending totaled $598 billion.

In addition, the US will spend at least $179 billion over the fiscal years of 2010–2018 on its nuclear arsenal, averaging $20 billion per year. Despite President Barack Obama's attempts in the media to reduce the scope of the current nuclear arms race, the US intends to spend an additional $1 trillion over the next 30 years modernizing its nuclear arsenal.

In September 2017 the Senate followed President Donald Trump's plan to expand military spending, which will boost spending to $700 billion, about 91.4% of which will be spent on maintaining the armed forces and primary Pentagon costs.[119] Military spending is increasing regularly and more money is being spent every year on employee pay, operation and maintenance, and benefits including health benefits. Methods to counteract rapidly increasing spending include shutting down bases, but that was banned by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.[120]

Independent analysis of military budget as part of federal spending

[edit]

War Resisters League (WRL) has been publishing yearly (since 2001[121] or earlier) federal budget breakdowns[122] which show that military-related spending is a much larger part of the US federal budget than typically reported by official sources. For example, for FY2024, WRL claims that military-related spending makes up 43% of the US budget.[123]

Federal waste

[edit]

As of September 2014, the Department of Defense was estimated to have "$857 million in excess parts and supplies". This figure has risen over the past years, and of the Pentagon waste that has been calculated, two figures are especially worth mentioning: the expenditure of "$150 million on private villas for a handful of Pentagon employees in Afghanistan and the procurement of the JLENS air-defense balloon" which, throughout the program's development over the past two decades, is estimated to have cost $2.7 billion.[124]

Comparison with other countries

[edit]
A pie chart showing global military expenditures by country for 2019, in US$ billions, according to SIPRI
Map of military expenditures as a percentage of GDP by country, 2017[125][needs update]

The US spends more on national defense than China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil combined.[126] The 2018 US military budget accounts for approximately 36% of global arms spending (for comparison, US GDP is only 24% of global GDP[127]). The 2018 budget is approximately 2.5 times larger than the $250 billion military budget of China. The US and its close allies are responsible for two-thirds to three-quarters of the world's military spending (of which, in turn, the US is responsible for the majority).[128][129][130] The US also maintains the largest number of military bases on foreign soil in the world.[131] While there are no freestanding foreign bases permanently located in the US, there are now around 800 US bases in foreign countries. Military spending makes up nearly 16% of entire federal spending and approximately half of discretionary spending. In a general sense discretionary spending (defense and non-defense spending) makes up one-third of the annual federal budget.[132]

In 2016, the US spent 3.29% of its GDP on its military (considering only basic Department of Defense budget spending), more than France's 2.26% and less than Saudi Arabia's 9.85%.[133] This is historically low for the US since it peaked in 1944 at 37.8% of GDP (it reached the lowest point of 3.0% in 1999–2001). Even during the peak of the Vietnam War the percentage reached a high of 9.4% in 1968.[134]

In 2018, the US spent 3.2% of its GDP on its military, while Saudi Arabia spent 8.8%, Israel spent 4.3%, Pakistan spent 4.0%, Russia spent 3.9%, South Korea spent 2.6%, China spent 1.9%, United Kingdom spent 1.8%, and Germany spent 1.2% of its GDP on defense.[135][136]

The US military's budget has plateaued in 2009, but is still considerably larger than any other military power.[137]

Past commentary on military budget

[edit]

In 2009 Robert Gates, then Secretary of Defense, wrote that the US should adjust its priorities and spending to address the changing nature of threats in the world: "What all these potential adversaries—from terrorist cells to rogue nations to rising powers—have in common is that they have learned that it is unwise to confront the United States directly on conventional military terms. The United States cannot take its current dominance for granted and needs to invest in the programs, platforms, and personnel that will ensure that dominance's persistence. But it is also important to keep some perspective. As much as the US Navy has shrunk since the end of the Cold War, for example, in terms of tonnage, its battle fleet is still larger than the next 13 navies combined—and 11 of those 13 navies are US allies or partners."[138] Secretary Gates announced some of his budget recommendations in April 2009.[139]

According to a 2009 Congressional Research Service report there was a discrepancy between a budget that is declining as a percentage of GDP while the responsibilities of the DoD have not decreased and additional pressures on the military budget have arisen due to broader missions in the post-9/11 world, dramatic increases in personnel and operating costs, and new requirements resulting from wartime lessons in the Iraq War and Operation Enduring Freedom.[140]

Expenses for fiscal years 2001 through 2010 were analyzed by Russell Rumbaugh, a retired Army officer and ex-CIA military analyst, in a report for the Stimson Center.[141] Rumbaugh wrote: "Between 1981 and 1990, the Air Force bought 2,063 fighters. In contrast, between 2001 and 2010, it bought only 220. Yet between 2001 and 2010 the Air Force spent $38B of procurement funding just on fighter aircraft in inflation-adjusted dollars, compared with the $68B it spent between 1981 and 1990. In other words, the Air Force spent 55 percent as much money to get 10 percent as many fighters." As Adam Weinstein explained one of the report's findings: "Of the roughly $1 trillion spent on gadgetry since 9/11, 22 percent of it came from supplemental war funding – annual outlays that are voted on separately from the regular defense budget."[142]

Most of the $5 billion in budget cuts for 2013 that were mandated by Congress in 2012 really only shifted expenses from the general military budget to the Afghanistan war budget. Declaring that nearly 65,000 troops were temporary rather than part of the permanent forces resulted in the reallocation of $4 billion in existing expenses to this different budget.[143]

Anti-war protest in Washington, D.C., 20 March 2010

In May 2012, as part of Obama's East Asia "pivot", his 2013 national military request moved funding from the Army and Marines to favor the Navy, but Congress has resisted this.[144]

Reports emerged in February 2014 that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was planning to trim the defense budget by billions of dollars. The secretary in his first defense budget planned to limit pay rises, increase fees for healthcare benefits, freeze the pay of senior officers, reduce military housing allowances, and reduce the size of the force.

In July 2014, American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Auslin opined in the National Review that the Air Force needs to be fully funded as a priority, due to the air superiority, global airlift, and long-range strike capabilities it provides.[145]

In January 2015 Defense Department published its internal study on how to save $125 billion on its military budget from 2016 to 2020 by renegotiating vendor contracts and pushing for stronger deals, and by offering workers early retirement and retraining.[146]

2012 fiscal cliff

[edit]

On 5 December 2012, the Department of Defense announced it was planning for automatic spending cuts, which include $500 billion and an additional $487 billion due to the 2011 Budget Control Act, due to the fiscal cliff.[147][148][149][150][151] According to Politico, the Department of Defense declined to explain to the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, which controls federal spending, what its plans were regarding the fiscal cliff planning.[152]

This was after half a dozen members of Congress very experienced in military matters either resigned from Congress or lost their reelection fights, including Joe Lieberman (I-CT).[153]

Lawrence Korb has noted that given recent trends military entitlements and personnel costs will take up the entire defense budget by 2039.[154]

GAO audits

[edit]

The GAO was unable to provide an audit opinion on the 2010 financial statements of the US government due to "widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations."[103] The GAO cited as the principal obstacle to its provision of an audit opinion "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense that made its financial statements unauditable."[103]

In FY2011, seven out of 33 DoD reporting entities received unqualified audit opinions.[155] Under Secretary of Defense Robert F. Hale acknowledged enterprise-wide weaknesses with controls and systems.[156] Further management discussion in the FY2011 DoD Financial Report states "we are not able to deploy the vast numbers of accountants that would be required to reconcile our books manually".[155] Congress has established a deadline of FY2017 for the DoD to achieve audit readiness.[157]

For FYs 1998–2010 the Department of Defense's financial statements were either unauditable or such that no audit opinion could be expressed.[158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165][166][167][168][169] Several years behind other government agencies, the first results from an army of about 2,400 contracted DoD auditors are expected on 15 November 2018.[170][needs update]

Post–World War II overview and reform

[edit]

Post–World War II

[edit]

The conclusion of World War II and the start of the Cold War prompted the rapid expansion of an arms race. Subsequently, the reallocation of budgets, prompted by several wars and proxy wars forced the Department of Defense to increase research and development of new military systems and equipment to proliferate on a mass scale to compete with, at the time, the Soviet Union. On 17 January 1961, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a farewell address to the US warned the people and government about the creation of a "military-industrial complex". As prompted by President Eisenhower, the war had arguably become an industry. It was also speculated by Eisenhower that the arms industry would bring war-like industrial influence into the various sectors of government. He stated: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."[171]

Following the departure of President Eisenhower, the expenditures and budgets of the US military grew exponentially. The Cold War (1947–1991) developed the largest proliferation of a nuclear arsenal to date. New defense contractors stood up to supply the demand for the military and its various conflicts across the globe. In addition, the Vietnam War was the largest expenditure during the Cold War at approximately $168 billion or about $1 trillion in today's[when?] inflated costs.[172]

In a statement of 6 January 2011, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates stated: "This department simply cannot risk continuing down the same path – where our investment priorities, bureaucratic habits and lax attitude towards costs are increasingly divorced from the real threats of today, the growing perils of tomorrow and the nation's grim financial outlook." Gates has proposed a budget that, if approved by Congress, would reduce the costs of many DoD programs and policies, including reports, the IT infrastructure, fuel, weapon programs, DoD bureaucracies, and personnel.[173]

The 2015 expenditure for Army research, development and acquisition changed from $32 billion projected in 2012 for FY2015, to $21 billion for FY2015 expected in 2014.[174]

In 2018, it was announced that the Department of Defense was the subject of a comprehensive budgetary audit. This review was conducted by private, third-party accounting consultants. The audit ended and was deemed incomplete due to deficient accounting practices in the department.

In FY2022, the US had the largest defense budget and expenditures of any other country in the world totaling around $777.1 billion. The rise in the military budget over the last decade can be traced to the production of new technologies such as a 5th generation fighter aircraft to meet the increase in demand for new combat capabilities. Many of these costs were the result of R&D, or research and development. Research and development is one of the US's primary focuses in the defense budget.[175]

Opponents of growing military spending budgets have long argued that the US should refocus and reallocate the military budgets to promote social welfare. However, the projections for the near future are that the defense budget and its expenditures are only going to continue to grow exponentially. In the published FY2022 budget report, the authority has been given to increase the defense budget by about $17 billion ($535 billion of which is a part of contract obligations) from FY2021. In addition, the Biden administration has proposed another increase of the FY2023 budget to $737 billion. On the contrary, proponents of increasing the US Defense budgets have long argued that factors such as China and other adversaries of the US must be kept in check (from a military standpoint).[175]

References

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ FY2025[1][2][3]
  2. ^ FY2024[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] agreement was reached Saturday 27 May 2023.[14] The Senate agreed to the debt ceiling arrangement for 2023-2025 on 2 June 2023.[15]
  3. ^ MERHFC is Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Fund Contribution, administered separately by the treasury

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ US Department of Defense (11 March 2024) Department of Defense Releases the President's Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Budget
  2. ^ DoD Comptroller (March 2024) Mar 2024 Budget
  3. ^ C. Todd Lopez, DOD News (8 May 2024) Austin: FY 2025 Budget Includes 'Tough, But Responsible' Decisions
  4. ^ Ashley Roque (10 March 2023) White House requests $842 billion to fund Pentagon in 2024 PPBE "request to Congress includes $6 billion to support Ukraine, NATO, and other European partner states, and $9.1 billion for DoD's Pacific Deterrence Initiative".
  5. ^ Marcus Weisgerber (13 Mar 2023) The Pentagon's 2024 Budget Proposal, In Short "The spending plan includes $315 billion to develop and buy new weapons". "$300 million in security assistance" for Ukraine.
  6. ^ Marcus Weisgerber (9 March 2023) Biden's $842B Pentagon Budget Proposal Would Boost New Weapons
  7. ^ a b Brendan W. McGarry, CRS (11 Jul 2022) DOD Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE): Overview and Selected Issues for Congress R47178 —describes PPBE's role in DoD Acquisition
  8. ^ a b Gould, Joe (3 March 2023). "Army to seek multiyear munitions buys in next budget". Defense News. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ^ a b Skove, Sam (3 March 2023). "A Lack of Machine Tools Is Holding Back Ammo Production, Army Says". Defense One. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  10. ^ Justin Katz (9 March 2023) US Indo-Pacific Command seeks $15.3 billion in new, independent budget request $4 billion more than FY23 request
  11. ^ Courtney Albon (11 March 2023) White House asks for $11 billion more for Navy, Marine Corps spending
  12. ^ Department of the Air Force (April 2023) Air Force President's Budget FY24 request is $215.1 billion dollars, a $9.3B or 4.5% increase over the FY23 enacted amount
  13. ^ Jen Judson (19 Apr 2023) Army warns it could lose $5.3 billion if Congress fails to pass budget before a Continuing Resolution occurs
  14. ^ Jim Tankersley, Catie Edmondson and Luke Broadwater The New York Times (27 May 2023) White House and G.O.P. Strike Debt Limit Deal to Avert Default
  15. ^ Nicola Slawson (2 Jun 2023) First Thing: US debt ceiling deal passes Senate, averting catastrophic federal default
  16. ^ Morgan, David; Lawder, David (20 January 2023). "U.S. hits debt ceiling as partisan standoff sparks economic worries". Reuters. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  17. ^ Victor Reklaitis (17 January 2023) U.S. to hit debt limit Thursday: Here's what that means
  18. ^ Dorn, Sara. "Biden Signs Debt Ceiling Bill Into Law—Lifts Borrowing Limit Until 2025". Forbes. Retrieved 6 June 2023. Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
  19. ^ Katz, Justin (28 July 2023). "Ducking the culture wars, Senate passes NDAA 86-11". Breaking Defense. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
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Further reading

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