Procedural and political hurdles “make it difficult to see how a substantial defense buildup on the order of the $54 billion proposed by the Trump administration can be realized,” said Katherine Blakeley, research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “The wide gulfs between the political parties, and between the defense hawks and the fiscal hawks, will not be closed soon.”
In the absence of a budget deal, defense hawks will seek to pump more money into the overseas contingency operations account, which is not constrained by the BCA caps, Blakeley noted. “Congress’ window for funding defense — and the rest of the government — before the end of the 2017 fiscal year is short and closing fast.”