Official Washington is generally proud of itself for having reached an agreement to avoid an entirely avoidable economic catastrophe. The debt limit has been raised and extremely modest spending cuts on a fraction of the budget have been agreed to. Time to move on.
Or at least that’s the intended story line. The real story is that even before a single dollar of those modest cost savings has been realized, both major parties were looking to increase spending on defense. Recall that defense spending is at a record this year – and the deal would cap it for only the next two years.
But “caps” have never stopped pols determined to spend other people’s money:
“We have so many troubled areas of the world right now. And not just Ukraine, but China remains a growing threat that we have to address,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), who leads the Armed Services subpanel that oversees nuclear weapons. “I fully expect there will be more defense spending through the rest of the fiscal year.”
Even some top Democrats want to find a way to boost military spending beyond the limits. Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) conceded lawmakers will likely use Ukraine funding to skirt budget caps for defense.
“They’ve built this incredible mousetrap that we have to figure out,” Reed said of the debt deal. “I think with Ukraine, you’re going to have to have a supplemental. We might put some other stuff in, too.”
“Other stuff” is basically a bland way of saying spending on a host of programs that have nothing to do with defense may get buckets of additional cash, too.
It all depends on if the votes are there to support such a move so soon after the debt deal was signed and delivered.
The test will come over the course of this month. Congress is debating the defense budget in the days ahead. Normally, this would not make many headlines. But with the publicly stated appetite of some members for more spending, the usual round of giving the DOD more cash than it or anyone else asked for will occur against the backdrop of (alleged) fiscal restraint.
What deals get cut, with whom and on what terms will tell us a great deal about the durability of the inherently shaky debt deal, the sincerity of self-described budget hawks, and the cupidity of everyone else.
The cynical bet is that the debt deal won’t survive the summer – at least on its spending promises. The slightly less dark bet is that a lot of spending gets shifted out of the daylight and into a supplemental bill that few will read but everyone wants to pass.
In other words, business as usual in official Washington.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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