A group of 29 progressive House Democrats are calling for a slimmer defense budget this year to free up more funds for coronavirus relief.
In a letter released Tuesday, the lawmakers did not specify how much they would like to see cut, but cited a three-year 20% increase in defense spending. The defense budget for FY2020 was set at $738 billion.
“We encourage you to authorize a level of spending below last year’s authorized level,” the members wrote to the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee, which is gearing up to assess the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act in the coming weeks.
“Congress must remain focused on responding to the coronavirus pandemic and distributing needed aid domestically,” they continued. “In order to do so, appropriators must have access to increased levels of non-defense spending which could be constrained by an increase to defense spending.”
Led by Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Barbara Lee of California, the lawmakers called for “more testing, not more bombs,” and encouraged the committee to “constrain defense spending during this pandemic so we can defeat the greatest threat to our nation — the coronavirus.”
The show of force by the 29 progressive lawmakers indicates there is enough backing to threaten the passage of this year’s NDAA in the House if it is higher than last year’s budget.
Military officials in recent years have called for a consistent 3-5% annual increase in military spending to maintain readiness and counter adversaries.
