Senators float more defense spending following Chinese spy balloon incident
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Senators on both sides of the aisle are calling for a larger Pentagon budget after the United States shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, arguing now is not the time for defense cuts despite GOP calls for fiscal restraint.
The specter of cuts is already top of mind as Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) negotiates with President Joe Biden to roll back spending levels in exchange for a hike in the nation’s borrowing limit. The House speaker has indicated defense is not off the table, yet the prospect is facing bipartisan opposition from defense hawks in both chambers of Congress.
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The downing of three unidentified flying objects last week, in addition to the spy balloon which surveilled sensitive military sites in Montana, led to classified briefings on Capitol Hill and a call for more money to confront the threat of China.
“I absolutely think what we’ve been learning is we are going to need to boost funding,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), a member of the Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
Congress will soon debate military spending hikes after lawmakers were able to boost the Pentagon’s budget over levels specified by President Joe Biden’s previous requests. This past year, lawmakers were able to secure an extra $45 billion in funding, a 10% increase for defense.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been vocal about opposing the president’s prior increases to the defense budget, voting for higher top-line numbers instead. The Kentucky Republican released a statement after the military shot down the Chinese spy balloon, tying the incursion to a broader need to counter China’s growing military might.
“Whether it’s spy balloons or spy satellites, hypersonic weapons or stealth aircraft, massive naval construction or nuclear stockpile expansion, China’s military modernization effort is no joke,” McConnell said in a Feb. 5 statement, panning Biden for the days it took before the Pentagon downed the aircraft. “Last year, President Biden proposed an absurd budget that would have cut defense funding after inflation. Let’s hope his budget proposal this year is more decisive, serious, and strong than the embarrassment that just played out in our skies.”
In particular, some senators voiced concerns that China’s incursions over U.S. airspace reveal a need for better technology to pick up on surveillance threats.
“There are requests for significant upgrades to detection, over-the-horizon radar capability, and obviously, Congress will take those requests more seriously in the appropriations process,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who sits on the Appropriations Committee, on Wednesday following a classified briefing.
Senators part of the self-proclaimed “Breakfast Club” nonetheless said they still intend to call for spending cuts to the Pentagon’s budget in the wake of the surveillance balloon incident. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) argued the Pentagon has become too large and inefficient.
“Is the military spending everything as efficiently as it should? Probably not. So, I would like as a business guy to take a look at the budget and go, ‘OK, what’s the most efficient, effective way of spending what we spent?’” Johnson told the Washington Examiner. “We don’t spend money very wisely.”
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) is also in favor of reining in defense spending and said Republican defense hawks are already leveraging the spy balloon incident in a bid to inflate defense spending.
“That’s no different than all the other crises that have been there and we get through,” Braun said. “It’s going to happen in due time that they’ll demand more money, and the neo-cons and defense hawks are more to blame for this than the Democrats.”
The perspectives from members of the group are hardly new — many, such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), have long pushed for a leaner defense budget.
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But, defense hawks are pushing back against possible defense cuts in light of the debt limit negotiations. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) urged McCarthy to oppose any defense budget that falls below 3.2% of GDP during Republicans’ closed-door retreat last week, according to Punchbowl News.
“I personally don’t think it’s wise to cut defense funding right now,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). “I have yet to see that is what we are actually going to do. I think those of us who are committed to a strong military are going to fight for a strong defense department.”