Trump is expected to release the $4.8 trillion budget today. However, with a divided Congress — Democrats control the House of Representatives while the Republicans control the Senate — the spending blueprint is unlikely to become law.
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While the budget proposes slightly more money for the Pentagon, defense leaders late last week said they would move $5.7 billion toward “higher priority” technologically oriented projects, such as nuclear modernization, space missile defense, hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, 5G communications tech and readiness, according to industry web site Defense One.
Much of that modernization and research work could be overseen by commands and laboratories based at Wright-Patterson, which oversees logistics and research work for the entire Air Force. The Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Research Laboratory and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center are all based at the sprawling Greene County base, where 30,000 military and civilian workers are employed.
As identified in a Fiscal Year 2021 Defense-Wide Review, much of that money will come from a de-emphasis, or less spending, on some personnel and benefits programs, warfighting and support, defense oversight, as well as working capital funds.
The warfighting and support areas that would be truncated include: The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Chem-Bio Defense Program, Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), Counter-Narcotics, Combatant Commander Exercise Engagement and Training Transformation and intel agencies, according to the review, which was released last month.
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