Some of the negative reaction may be blunted by the Pentagon’s
move last month to deploy an additional 14 ground-based missile interceptors to
Alaska, in response to threats from North Korea. Those will cost roughly $1
billion.
{mosads}Congress pushed back against the president’s missile defense
plans in 2013, as House lawmakers passed a bill that had more money for
modernization facilities, and the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
that became law included an environmental impact study for an East Coast
missile defense site.
Part of the reduction in missile defense funds for 2014,
according to Bloomberg, is because the administration is not requesting any
money for the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), after asking for $400
million for the controversial program in 2013.
The missile defense program ultimately received $380 million
in the continuing resolution that was signed into law last month, after attempts
to strip the money on the Senate floor failed.