​By: Leo Shane III

https://www.defensenews.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/07/21/plan-to-boost-bidens-defense-budget-could-see-bipartisan-support/

Senate lawmakers will consider increasing White House military spending plans for next year by $25 billion as part of their debate over the annual defense spending bill this week.

As closed-door work on the massive military policy measure began Wednesday morning, Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee were bullish on the prospects of dramatically boosting plans for a $716 billion base budget for the Department of Defense in the measure.

On Wednesday, June 30, the House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces held a hearing to review Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force rotary wing aviation programs and planned modernization efforts in the fiscal year 2022 budget request. Members and witnesses focused on the need to adapt force capabilities in the face of the emerging near-peer threat of China. Subcommittee Ranking Member Hartzler expressed concern that the FY22 budget request forces military leaders to make “impossible” decisions about near-term operational readiness, sustainment of enduring capabilities, and long-term modernization.
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Witnesses

• Mr. Douglas Bush – Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)), Department of the Army

• Lieutenant General Erik C. Peterson – Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8, Headquarters, U.S. Army
• Mr. Frederick “Jay” Stefany – Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, Department of the Navy
• Lieutenant General Mark Wise, USMC – Deputy Commandant for Aviation, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
• Rear Admiral Andrew Loiselle, USN – Director, Air Warfare Division, N98, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
• Ms. Darlene Costello – Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, Department of the Air Force
• Major General Richard G. Moore Jr., USAF – Director of Programs, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs, Headquarters, U.S. Air Force

Members in Attendance
Subcommittee Chairman Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Rep. Kaiali'i Kahele (D-HI), Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), Subcommittee Ranking Member Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN).

​On Tuesday, June 29, the House Committee on Armed Services held a hearing to discuss the Army’s fiscal year 2022 budget request. The purpose of the hearing was to review the budget proposal while considering five congressional priorities: Army modernization, well-maintained industrial base, conflict readiness, China as the prime adversary of the United States, and soldier care and training. Army Secretary Wormuth and Army Chief of Staff General McConville justified reductions in the FY22 budget request as a means for shifting focus to modernization. Most Republicans insisted that the budget request did not meet the needs of the Army.

Witnesses

• The Honorable Christine E. Wormuth – Secretary of the Army
• General James C. McConville – Chief of Staff of the Army

Members in Attendance
Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA), Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX), Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Rep. Kaiali’i Kahele (D-HI), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-NY), Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), Ranking Member Mike Rogers (R-AL), Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), Rep. Scott Franklin (R-FL), Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL), Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE).