President Joe Biden on Monday will request $813.3 billion in national security spending in his proposed budget, including money for a space-based missile warning system and nearly $2 billion for an interceptor to protect against ballistic missile threats from states like North Korea and Iran .
Senior US generals have warned that Iran’s growing arsenal poses the greatest risk to American interests in the Middle East, and North Korea’s threat appeared apparent last week when it claimed to have tested its new Hwasong-17 ICBM.
Analysts said the new missile could reach anywhere in the US
With that in mind, Biden will send his budget featuring increases in defense spending to Congress on Monday, according to officials familiar with the proposals.
“I am calling for one of the largest investments in our national security in history, with the means necessary to ensure our military remains the best prepared, best trained and best equipped military in the world,” Biden said in a Explanation before planned remarks.
“Furthermore, I call for further investments to vigorously respond to Putin’s aggression against Ukraine with US support for Ukraine’s economic, humanitarian and security needs.”
That includes $773 billion for the Pentagon and a total increase of $31 billion — or four percent — in this year’s national security spending.
President Joe Biden will present his 2023 budget on Monday. It will reportedly include an increase in Pentagon spending as it responds to threats from China and North Korea
North Korea said Thursday it had tested the Hwasong-17 ICBM, which analysts said could hit targets inside the continental United States
The potential range of the North Korean missile is 8100 miles. However, some experts have cast doubt on the authenticity of the video released by the pariah nation
The state-run Korean Central News Agency released an image of Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader, inspecting the launch system of the Hwasong-17 ICBM
A White House official told Bloomberg News that this is one of the largest national security investments in American history, strengthening allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific and providing aid to Ukraine.
It also comes amid a string of warnings that the US is falling behind China and Russia in defense technology, including the development of hypersonic weapons and the use of artificial intelligence.
China last year tested a hypersonic weapon – defined as capable of traveling at five to 25 times the speed of sound and outmaneuvering anti-missile defense systems – while Russia claims to have used at least two during its invasion of Ukraine.
The request includes $130.1 billion for research and development — reportedly the Pentagon’s largest request in this category — for those two areas.
About $5 billion will go towards a space-based missile warning system to detect global threats.
And Biden is asking for $145.9 billion for the procurement, according to Bloomberg News, with planned purchases including 61 F-35 fighter jets, the B-21 bomber and two Virginia-class submarines.
North Korea flexed its muscles again on Monday, as state media reported the leader had promised to develop even more powerful weapons.
On Thursday, the North conducted its 12th round of weapons tests of the year, launching its Hwasong-17, which analysts said would be deployed anywhere on the US mainland.
The Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim Jong-un as saying there is more to come.
Hypersonic missiles differ from ballistic missiles in that they fly closer to the earth and can thus largely evade radar detection
Biden’s 5.8-ton Budget: The Headlines Including Taxes and Defense (And What’s Inside)
- Includes a minimum tax of 20% on income for households valued at $100 million or more.
- The corporate tax rate will be raised from 21% to 28%.
- Plans to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion over the next 10 years.
- 18% increase in IRS budget.
- $813.3 billion for defense and national security to counter threats from North Korea and Iran
- Another $682 million for Ukraine “to counter Russia’s malign influence and address emerging security, energy, cybersecurity, disinformation, macroeconomic stabilization and civil society resilience needs”
- $81.7 billion to Department of Health and Human Services over next five years to prepare for future pandemics.
- $3.3 billion to support clean energy projects and $18 billion for climate programs.
- Includes support for a civilian climate corps.
- $309 million for border security and $494 million for migrant processing assistance.
- This includes $150 million for attorneys to represent migrants in immigration procedures.
- $1 billion for school counselors in the wake of the COVID pandemic
- $10 billion for election administration – including “free postage ballots”.
“It is only by being equipped with a tremendous strike force, an overwhelming military power that no one can stop, that one can prevent a war, guarantee the security of the country and contain and control all threats and blackmail by the imperialists,” it says quoted him as saying.
Biden’s 2023 budget proposal also includes $32 billion to help fight rising crime in the United States, according to two White House officials, despite years of calls from his party’s progressive wing for police relief.
Massive crime spikes, particularly in cities, is a problem that could threaten majority Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections. Republicans brand the problem as largely Democratic in origin due to calls for the abolition of the police and anti-law enforcement rhetoric in general.
Officials tell Axios that Biden’s budget proposal would require $30 billion in new spending over the next decade to expand law enforcement and improve crime prevention.
Biden’s budget proposal will also reportedly include a “billionaire tax” to fund the $1 trillion deficit reduction.
The minimum tax for the wealthiest Americans would require households worth more than $100 million to pay at least 20 percent of their income.
The White House plans to introduce the “billionaire minimum income tax” as part of Biden’s 2023 budget on Monday, but it would need to pass Congress to become law and would likely face strong opposition from some quarters.