By: Joe Gould
WASHINGTON — For President-elect Donald Trump to make good on a multibillion-dollar campaign promise to expand the military with more ships, jets and troops, something has got to give.
Will it be GOP fiscal hawks fighting to balance the federal budget or Democrats who want parity for defense and non-defense spending? So far, lawmakers are hunkered down in familiar camps.
Or will it be Trump? The ultimate Washington outsider, Trump has yet to name the defense secretary who might quarterback such an expansion, and Trump has already backtracked on several key campaign positions. So it remains to be seen whether he will stick to his guns and, well, buy more guns.
“We’re going to have to see what were campaign promises and what were real promises. How much will Trump push these issues that will cut against the core beliefs of his own party?” said defense budget analyst Todd Harrison, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “You run huge deficits if you try to do all of his campaign promises. No amount of economic growth would overcome that.”
During the campaign, Trump offered plans to cut taxes, rebuild infrastructure and expand the military, all while refusing to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits. The Tax Foundation predicted those plans would yield a debt increase of between $4.4 and $5.9 trillion — which, if true, would likely fuel a revolt within the GOP.
“How are you going to pay for it,” said North Carolina Republican Rep. Walter Jones, a House Armed Services Committee member and co-chair of the House Military Depot and Industrial Facilities Caucus.
“Just spending, spending and spending? At some point it negatively impacts our military because we can’t pay our bills,” Jones said.
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