Hardwired for Hardware: Congressional Adjustments to the Administration’s Defense Budget Requests, 2016 to 2023

April 3, 2024 Aether: A Journal of Strategic Airpower & Spacepower
By: Travis Sharp and Casey Nicastro
Related Experts: Travis Sharp, Casey Nicastro

As a result of the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act, defense budget growth will be limited for fiscal year (FY) 2024 and FY 2025. An analysis of congressional adjustments to defense budget requests from FY 2016 to FY 2023 reveals a Congress that favors programmatic expenditures over personnel and operation and maintenance. In a time of fiscal austerity in the near term, DoD priorities must be clearly and concisely conveyed to Congress, and Congress must balance its predilection for hardware with the need to appropriately fund the nonhardware programs and components of the Department.

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Hardwired for Hardware: Congressional Adjustments to the Administration’s Defense Budget Requests, 2016 to 2023

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