Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, criticized the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion defense spending request for fiscal 2027, specifically pushing back on the planned use of $350 billion in reconciliation funds.
The White House released a high-level budget request April 3 that only listed some toplines. It requested almost $33 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, but did not list an amount for the defense nuclear enterprise. The topline budget also did not list line items for the Sentinel or B-21 – those are in the Pentagon’s procurement programs master budget spreadsheets – but did request $65.8 billion for shipbuilding that would include increasing procurement of Columbia- and Virginia-class submarines.
Reed said the large amount of mandatory spending built into the budget via reconciliation would be approved “on a party-line vote outside the annual defense authorization and appropriation process, which means less oversight and fewer strings attached.”
“This is not a serious budget. From what little information we have, this flawed, irresponsible proposal is unjustified and fails to acknowledge the negative impacts of Trump’s Iran war and faltering economy,” Reed said.
“This proposed spending spree doesn’t take into account the fact that this administration is also likely to request a major emergency war supplemental,” Reed added, referencing the Pentagon’s discussions around a potential $200 billion supplemental. “I will not rubber-stamp a bloated, undisciplined budget. I will work with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to carefully scrutinize every penny.”