Record US Defense Budget Is Emerging Immune From Congress Cuts

The Biden administration and Congress are on track to back a record US defense budget, signaling Pentagon spending is untouchable even as Democrats and Republicans squabble over how to reduce the debt burden.

The White House on Thursday is expected to request a Pentagon budget for fiscal 2024 that well exceeds the $816 billion enacted for the Department of Defense this year — the biggest-ever defense budget in nominal terms, and also one of the largest peacetime budgets when adjusted for inflation. Meanwhile, China, the biggest US peer competitor, said its defense spending would grow by 7.2% to $225 billion ...