DOD comptroller says spending cuts would affect Pacific deterrence and nuclear triad

The Department of Defense’s comptroller has warned that budget cuts could significantly impact the department’s planned Pacific deterrence and the nuclear triad.

Michael McCord, the department’s undersecretary of defense, described in a letter to Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, how possible budget cuts would affect the Pentagon’s plans.

President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget includes $842 billion for the Department of Defense, which is an increase in spending from previous years. However, House Republicans are considering reducing fiscal 2024 discretionary spending to levels similar to that of fiscal 2022.

According to McCord, making cuts would seriously hinder the acceleration of the department’s pacific initiative, and cuts to fiscal 2022 could affect up to a 40% cut in the modernization of the land- and air-based legs of the nuclear triad. Nearly a 50% reduction to the funding DOD is requesting for space-based missile warning and ground-based midcourse missile defenses could also occur.

Biden’s budget includes $9.1 billion in support of the department’s Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which is a 40% increase from the previous year, aligning with the department’s belief that China is the military’s “pacing challenge.”

McCord expressed concerns about the potential harm caused by such reductions and the severe disruptions cuts would inflict on the department’s personnel and their families, which affects the ability to recruit. Further, the cuts would lead to “delayed or degraded” infrastructure and capability.

There have been reports that the Pentagon could be saved from cuts to other areas of Biden’s spending proposal. However, McCord reiterated that such reductions would still cause harm to the department’s mission and national interests.

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McCord added that the Department of Defense is concerned about “the magnitude and the potential method of implementing such reductions.”

“Our whole of government response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine clearly demonstrates the value of integrating security assistance, economic assistance, humanitarian assistance, sanctions, and export controls,” McCord explained.