Defense spending

Lawmakers look to cut $100 billion from nuclear weapons budget

A pair of congressional Democrats is spearheading a bill that would cut $100 billion from the U.S. nuclear weapons budget over the next decade.

The Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act, sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey (Mass.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), would reduce the number of nuclear submarines from 14 to eight and scale back the purchase of replacement submarines from 12 to eight.

The proposed measure would also nix nuclear weapon production facilities and missile defense programs, defer development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles, cut programs that extend the lifetimes of warheads, delay the Air Force’s new long-range bomber effort and remove the nuclear mission for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.