Military spending

Winners & losers in Trump’s $603bn national security budget

The Trump administration has unveiled its 2018 budget proposal, which boosts military spending beyond the sequestration cap. It would put total US national security spending, including the Departments of Energy and Justice, at roughly $603 billion.

Under the proposed budget unveiled Tuesday, the Department of Defense would receive $574.5 billion, with another $65 billion earmarked for the Overseas Contingency Operations slush fund. Another $2 billion will go to national defense programs including nuclear security. The budget also envisions $2 billion in savings from improved efficiency and reforms within the Pentagon, including base closures.

This would translate into a 9.5 percent increase in the Pentagon’s budget over the current fiscal year. It is also $52 billion more than the military spending cap under the 2011 Budget Control Act, commonly known as sequestration.