Talking About the Defense Budget, and More from CRS
The U.S. defense budget is comprised of several distinct components, including “base” and supplemental spending, nuclear weapons expenses, veterans benefits, and other defense-related costs.
When discussing “the defense budget,” it is therefore important to specify what is being described. Depending on what is included or excluded, “total” U.S. defense spending each year can vary by hundreds of millions of dollars.
This definitional question is neatly illustrated in a new graphic from the Congressional Research Service. See How People Talk About the FY2017 National Defense Budget.
Other new and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Defense Primer: The National Defense Budget Function (050), CRS In Focus, March 17, 2017
Defense Primer: DOD Contractors, CRS In Focus, February 10, 2017
Defense Primer: Procurement, CRS In Focus, February 10, 2017
Military Transition Assistance Program (TAP): An Overview, CRS In Focus, March 15, 2017
Supreme Court Appointment Process: Consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee, updated March 17, 2017
Turkey: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief, updated March 17, 2017
Sanctuary Jurisdictions and Select Federal Grant Funding Issues: In Brief, March 16, 2017
The Decennial Census: Issues for 2020, March 16, 2017
A Survey of House and Senate Committee Rules on Subpoenas, updated March 16, 2017
Medicare Primer, updated March 16, 2017
Pending ACA Legal Challenges Face Uncertain Future, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 16, 2017
Statutory, Average, and Effective Marginal Tax Rates in the Federal Individual Income Tax: Background and Analysis, March 16, 2017
Should the U.S. Trade Deficit be Redefined?, CRS Insight, March 17, 2017
Moving On: TPP Signatories Meet in Chile, CRS Insight, March 16, 2017
Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectile: Background and Issues for Congress, updated March 17, 2017
Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated March 17, 2017
Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated March 17, 2017
Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated March 16, 2017
The United States has the only proven and scalable tritium production supply chain, but it is largely reserved for nuclear weapons. Excess tritium production capacity should be leveraged to ensure the success of and U.S. leadership in fusion energy.
Despite an emerging awareness of the importance of state and local government innovation capacity, there is a shortage of plausible strategies to build that capacity.
Innovations in artificial intelligence and robotics will allow us to accelerate the search process using foundation AI models for science research and automate much of the experimentation with robotic, self-driving labs.
FAS commends the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for clearing a historic 75 pieces of legislation, including multiple crucial bills to confront the wildfire crisis.