White House budget guidance calls for increased Pentagon spending

The White House has given the Defense Department budget guidance through 2019 that calls for more money after 2015 than congressional budget caps allow, Bloomberg reports. 

The guidance also includes for the first time an “investment fund” for White House-approved programs should additional funds become available, according to the report. 

{mosads}The Pentagon will present where the extra funds would be applied in its budget submission to Congress. 

The fund would add to the $498 billion 2015 Pentagon base budget hashed out in last year’s Bipartisan Budget Act. 

The $498 billion includes $9 billion in relief from 2011 congressional budget caps, known as sequestration, which takes about $50 billion off the Defense budget for 10 years. 

The new budget guidance calls for more spending than the budget caps currently dictate, which is $499 billion in 2016, $512 billion in 2017, $524 billion in 2018 and $536 billion in 2019, according to Bloomberg. 

The Obama administration will release its 2015 budget request on March 4, the Office of Management and Budget announced Thursday.