President Biden is panicking. He has no idea what to do next.
And all hell is breaking loose as Joe Biden has been hand-cuffed with nowhere left to go.
Amidst bold rhetoric from the White House and both sides of Congress regarding the imperative to outpace China militarily, neither faction seems inclined to uphold their pledges.
According to a congressional aide, the Biden administration intends to request approximately $850 billion from Congress to finance the U.S. military for fiscal year 2025, nearly mirroring the allocation for fiscal year 2023. Despite warnings from the Pentagon regarding China’s rapid advancement in defense capabilities and the necessity for the U.S. military to refocus on the Pacific, both Congress and the White House seem hesitant to allocate taxpayer funds accordingly, experts informed the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Budgets are statements of priorities, and this budget shows the Biden administration, despite its rhetoric and strategic documents, is failing to prioritize the threat (of China),” remarked Alex Gray, an official with the American Foreign Policy Council.
In March 2023, the Defense Department under Biden proposed $842 billion for national defense in fiscal year 2024. However, Congress ultimately increased the budget to $886.3 billion by December through the National Defense Authorization Act.
The expected proposal for 2025, standing at around $850 billion, falls short of the approximately $860 billion projected by the Pentagon in 2023.
“This request shows the Biden administration is fundamentally unserious about addressing the greatest geopolitical threat we have ever faced: the Chinese Communist Party,” Gray emphasized.
China’s advancements across all warfare domains have been described as “extraordinary.” Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, China has significantly expanded its navy’s capabilities, narrowing the gap with the U.S. The Pentagon forecasts that China will possess over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by the end of the decade, as outlined in a mandated Pentagon report on PRC security developments released in October.
“The People’s Republic of China is the only competitor to the United States with the intent and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order,” Biden’s national security strategy asserts.
“The White House and Congress have shown themselves unwilling to significantly raise defense spending or prioritize. As a result, we find ourselves in the worst of both worlds,” stated Alex Velez-Green, the senior policy adviser at the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center.
Furthermore, the Pentagon reportedly plans to reduce funding for critical programs aimed at deterring China. The White House’s proposed budget includes funding for only one Virginia-class nuclear powered attack submarine, a reduction from previous orders for two submarines annually.
Virginia-class submarines are crucial components of a strategic agreement involving the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia, intended to bolster Australia’s naval capabilities against China’s aggression.
“Attack submarines are the crown jewels of the U.S. military and critical to deterring China. Slashing production weakens American power. We cannot afford to shortchange our deterrent during this dangerous moment,” cautioned Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
Other anticipated cuts include an 18% reduction in the number of fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets the Air Force had planned to procure in 2025, aimed at cost reduction amidst budget constraints.
Funding designated for the military’s Indo-Pacific Command and other vital infrastructure projects has also been removed from the budget request, according to a congressional aide.
“Even if we increase defense spending, we must focus a larger share of our nation’s military and defense industrial capacity on deterring China if we are to avoid war or be able to prevail if deterrence fails,” stressed Velez-Green.
Xi Jinping has pledged to develop a military prepared for a major conflict by 2027, and while he hasn’t set a specific date for the invasion of Taiwan, he has expressed clear intent to seize the island by force if necessary.
Joe Biden and the Democrats’ indecisive approach to military spending and national security as a whole has left the White House hand-cuffed with tough decisions to make. In general, increased national defense spending is unpopular amongst the Democrat voting base and many within that voting base already believes that the U.S. is spending too much on national defense.
President Biden and his Democrat lackeys in the White House are already in a tough spot with their voting base in the wake of the October 7th attack on Israel after the Biden administration gave mixed signals all over the place with regards to how much they actually support Israel.
This national defense budget fiasco is only going to make matters worse for Biden and the Democrats in a year where Republicans look to pull the rug out from the Democrats in Washington, D.C. come November this year.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
