Asheville Reporter

Leaders of both parties have criticized President Joe Biden's Fiscal Year 2023 proposed budget, saying it shortchanges defense spending. On March 28, the president unveiled his $5.8 trillion budget plan, which calls for spending $773 billion on defense, up from $728.5 billion the previous year. 

"Some people don't like the increase, but we're in a different world today," Biden said in a recent White House release. "America is more prosperous, more successful and more just when it is more secure."

He was right that some people don't like the increase, but not because it's too much. 

Although Biden claimed in the release that his budget contains what "will be among the largest investments in our national security in history," critics aren't so sure.

Mike Rogers, the ranking member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, joined Sen. Jim Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in leading Republicans to urge the president to increase the defense budget by 5% over the rate of inflation, a recent Fox News report said. All 28 House Armed Services Committee Republicans have protested that the country "cannot afford to shortchange" national security in the face of "unprecedented threats" against the United States. 

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) noted that after adjusting "for the 'official' 8% inflation rate," the proposed defense budget is "at least a 4% cut in real-dollar spending power," the Fox News report said. House Republican Caucus Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who also sits on the Armed Services Committee, added that Biden's budget "once again cuts the size of our military in the heart of a national security crisis."

Marjorie K. Eastman, U.S. Senate candidate from North Carolina, recently published an opinion article about her state's strong military makeup and capabilities. 

"President Biden's latest budget increased spending 5% or more for every department except the two tasked with protecting Americans: the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security," she said in the article posted on CarolinaJournal.com. "Biden's defense budget is one of the smallest by GDP since World War II." 

Democratic lawmakers have also been less than pleased with the president's defense budget. 

"I have delayed putting out a statement about the Defense Budget because frankly it would have been mostly full of words you might expect from a sailor, but here goes: It sucks," Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) recently tweeted.

The president's budget proposal would raise taxes on corporations and billionaires, a report issued by the White House said. It would bump up military spending and increase spending on domestic priorities such as affordable housing and supply-chain concerns.