06 February 2015

Editorial: How Obama’s Defense Budget Impacts Asia


By Jack Detsch

The Pentagon’s 2016 budget plans to make good on President Obama’s pivot to Asia, but it may be nipped in the bud by Congress.

As The Diplomat’s Franz-Stefan Gady pointed out earlier this week, there’s little hope at the U.S. Department of Defense that its $585 billion budget request for 2016 will make it through Congress.
At first glance, the price tag is a non-starter. The Defense Department’s wish list tops out at $585 billion, well above the agency’s $499 billion spending cap mandated by the 2011Budget Control Act (PDF). If the House and Senate passed the proposal (PDF) as it’s currently structured, it would trigger automatic cuts, pushing spending back down to the legal limit. Former Pentagon official Ashton Carter, nominated to replace Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, has said that U.S. strategy is “not executable” with those limitations in place.
Even if the current request goes nowhere, which many expect to happen, it’s an important affirmation of President Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia. “In pursuit of security cooperation, the Budget enhances and modernizes U.S. defense relationships, posture, and capabilities with a focus on maritime security,” the document states (PDF) with reference to the region. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat