Weeks of waiting came to an end this week when President Trump released key details of his Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request to Congress. Complete data won’t be available for another week or so but here are some facts and figures about what was requested for the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Defense: Requests $545 billion for the Defense Department’s base budget; $174 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding; $9 billion for emergency border wall funding; and more than $30 billion for other national defense programs for a grand total of nearly $750 billion. Other provisions:
- Maintain defense budget caps thru 2029
- Provide a 3.1 percent pay raise which is IAW current law
- Require NO new increases in health care fees for service members, retirees and family members
- Establish a Space Force under the Department of the Air Force
Veterans: Requests $97 billion in discretionary funding including resources for health care, benefit administration, and national cemeteries as well as $123.2 billion in mandatory funding for a total VA spend plan of about $220 billion. That’s a 7.5 percent increase in the VA budget over last year. Other provisions:
- Require COLA round-downs
- Cap Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for flight training at public schools Increase burial benefits.