[Hoot Gibson]

Predictably, despite submitting a record shattering federal budget for Fiscal Year 2022 to Congress, China Joe is is proposing a cut to defense spending. (An increase in spending that is smaller than the rate of inflation is a spending cut not an increase as some liberal media outlets are spinning the 2022 spending proposal.) If the administration has underestimated the rate of inflation, then the cuts to defense spending will be even greater in terms of constant dollars.

In addition to the proposed spending cuts, the Army, Navy, and Air Force would also see small cuts to active duty force size under Biden's budget.

Eyeing China, Biden defense budget boosts research and cuts procurement

WASHINGTON ― U.S. President Joe Biden’s first budget request for the Department of Defense slashes procurement by $8 billion, whacking scores of legacy weapons and systems as a way to deliver a $5.5 billion boost for the development and testing of cutting-edge technologies that could deter China.

The $715 billion Pentagon request for fiscal 2022, which was sent to Congress Friday, represents an $11 billion increase and trails the rate of inflation. A big chunk is what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called the “largest ever” request for research, development, test and evaluation funding. The White House has proposed $112 billion in that area, a 5 percent increase.

On the flip side, procurement funding, the purchasing accounts used to buy new equipment, would fall nearly 6 percent to $133.6 billion. The budget would reclaim $2.4 billion in “defense reforms” and $2.8 billion from “divestments,” to include the retirements of A-10, F-15 and F-16 tactical aircraft and the decommissioning of Navy vessels to include four littoral combat ships and two cruisers.