Biden to ask for more than $770B in defense dollars for FY23: report

President Biden is expected to ask Congress for more than $770 billion to fund defense programs in the next fiscal year, Reuters reported. 

The high figure, which would be $17 billion or more above what Biden asked of lawmakers last year, is thanks to a Pentagon push to modernize the military, three sources familiar with the negotiations told the news outlet. 

The sources said the final amount could change as negotiations over the number for fiscal year 2023, which begins Oct. 1, are ongoing within between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

The Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to questions from The Hill. The OMB declined to comment. 

The national defense budget includes the funding for the Defense Department, which covers everything from tanks to troop pay, as well as dollars for nuclear weapons programs within the Department of Energy and defense-adjacent programs elsewhere.  

The FY-23 defense budget would favor shipbuilding, new space capabilities in space, better missile warning systems and an update of nuclear submarines, bombers and missiles, one of the sources told Reuters. 

Another source said the Pentagon will continue to put money toward research and development of military capabilities that could match those of China and Russia in any potential future conflict. 

The Pentagon also hopes to save dollars by retiring older and less needed weapons systems including the A-10 Warthog, used mainly during the recently ended Afghanistan War. 

Biden last year asked lawmakers for nearly $753 billion for the FY-22 national defense budget, which ultimately was raised to $768.2 billion.