WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s first full budget request, including long-awaited details about the Pentagon, will be released May 27, the White House announced Thursday.
The administration announced in early April that the fiscal 2022 budget request asks for $753 billion in national security funding, including $715 billion for the Defense Department. Further details were omitted during the release of the so-called skinny budget, a process common for new administrations who need extra time to build out their first budget request.
The budget request is not expected to include reliable numbers for Future Years Defense Program projections. It is expected the budget request will feature attempts to divest existing systems, something Congress often moves to reverse during the markup process.
Republican lawmakers have hit back at the $715 billion figure, saying it does not match a need — articulated under the previous administration — for annual 3-5 percent growth in defense spending. Progressive Democrats, meanwhile, are looking for ways to cut spending further.
Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
