The Space Review:
The fiscal year 2018 defense budget looks like another test of whether the Republican-controlled Congress can actually get things done. A large majority of Republicans agree that, under President Obama, defense spending was cut to dangerously low levels. Congressman Trent Franks (R AZ), who serves on the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee, said that Obama was “adamant in trying to reduce spending on missile defense.” This year there is a general agreement that the US needs to spend more, and to do a better job of defending ourselves and our allies, especially from North Korea’s new missiles.
There can be no question that the Budget Control Act of 2011 has become an obstacle to the government’s obligation to “provide for the common defense.” Appropriating the dollars that the Defense Department can effectively use is, like everything else in Washington these days, amazingly difficult to accomplish. The House passed a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that offers an extra $2.5 billion for missile defense. The question now is, can the Senate follow suit?
