Trump's proposed budget would blast through defense spending caps

President Donald Trump has proposed a significant increase in defense spending as he promised on the campaign trail -- though fully keeping his promise will depend on what Congress does to implement his vision.

Here's the backstory: In 2011, the federal government was nearing its legal debt limit, which meant that Congress had to authorize a higher level for borrowing. House Republicans insisted that spending cuts be passed alongside an increase to the debt limit. However, the negotiations fell apart, and Republicans and Democrats came to a less ambitious debt-limit agreement, enacted as the Budget Control Act of 2011.

As an incentive to find further cuts, the law included an unusual budget threat: It set up automatic, across-the-board cuts, with half of those cuts hitting defense, if Congress couldn't agree on more cuts. These automatic cuts were known as "sequestration," or the "sequester." While the framework was intended to force action rather than set policy, it ended up going into effect after the two sides could not reach an agreement, and it has been in place ever since.

Trump's budget proposal "repeals the defense sequestration" by restoring $52 billion to the Defense Department, as well as $2 billion to other national defense programs outside defense. That works out to a $54 billion total increase above the budget cap.

"This increase alone exceeds the entire defense budget of most countries, and would be one of the largest one-year (Defense Department) increases in American history," the budget proposal said.

"He said he would ask, and he did," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Of course, nothing is done until legislation is passed."

Trump has taken a significant step in fulfilling this promise by proposing the elimination of the budget caps on defense, and by proposing a funding increase well beyond current levels. But most presidential budget proposals face intense scrutiny by lawmakers, who hold the key to their enactment. We rate this promise In the Works.