Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Claims that the Israeli occupation has withdrawn from areas in the neighborhoods of al-Zaytoun, al-Tuffah, and al-Shujaiya are false
Hamas: The two delegations stressed that any negotiations must lead to the achievement of our people's goals and aspirations, foremost among which is ending the war and the complete withdrawal of enemy forces
Hamas: A delegation from the Hamas leadership, led by the head of the leadership council, Mohammad Darwish, met with an Islamic Jihad delegation, headed by its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah

GOP must choose battles carefully to avoid army budget menace: WSJ

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Wall Street Journal
  • 19 Dec 2022 22:11
4 Min Read

An opinion piece published in the WSJ says Republicans who will take control of the House in January must avoid subjecting the military to the harm of budgetary brinkmanship.

  • x
  • US military troops
    US military troops

In an opinion piece published by Dustin Walker and Mackenzie Eaglen in The Wall Street Journal titled The Military Pays for Beltway Budgetary Brinkmanship, the two writers stressed that US policymakers must not "hamstring the armed forces’ ability to wage war against an adversary."

Walker and Eaglen recalled a 2018 quote by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who considered that "the biggest impediment to U.S. military readiness over the past decade hasn’t been any enemy overseas but budgetary chaos in Washington."

The writers believe that Republicans who will take control of the House in January "must choose their battles carefully to avoid subjecting the military to the harm of budgetary brinkmanship," adding that their "first order of business should be to fund the government for fiscal 2023 immediately."

According to the writers, "Passing a budget resolution and the 12 individual appropriations bills promptly next year will help provide the military with timely resources. It will also give House Republicans an opportunity to get the government’s finances in check. They can do it only if they learn the lessons from those who came before them."

Walker and Eaglen recalled that "in 2011 a new Republican House majority charged into a budget battle with a Democratic Senate and White House. After months of continuing resolutions and on the brink of government shutdown, Congress in April passed a compromise appropriations bill that cut $40 billion from President Obama’s budget."

"Republicans then insisted on cuts to future federal spending before lifting the federal debt ceiling. Financial markets were in turmoil. The Treasury Department had exhausted its capacity to borrow. In August, Congress finally passed the Budget Control Act, another compromise, which cut spending by nearly $1 trillion over 10 years and aimed to save an additional trillion through caps on discretionary spending and automatic spending cuts," the writers explained.

Related News

What is Netanyahu smoking? Araghchi slams Israeli influence over US

Pentagon official assessment shifted US focus from Ukraine to China

In their opinion piece, Walker and Eaglen believe that the Republican majority should remember that "to pass legislation aimed at curtailing debt and deficits, Republicans needed Democratic votes. Fifty-nine House Republicans voted against the omnibus appropriations bill, and 66 voted against the Budget Control Act."

"Second, compromise legislation heavily shaped by a Democratic White House and Senate failed to rein in federal spending. Ten years after the Budget Control Act became law in August 2011, the national debt had doubled and federal debt had grown from 96% gross domestic product to 121%. Democrats didn’t want to cut spending and limited options for genuine fiscal reform by exempting most entitlement programs from the Budget Control Act," explained Walker and Eaglen.

According to the writers, "The compromise was congenitally flawed and led to 10 years of budgetary chaos—forcing Congress repeatedly to avert mindless, damaging cuts to the military—until the legislation finally expired after fiscal 2021. Control of the House alone wasn’t enough for Republicans to achieve lasting fiscal restructuring. Nor will it be in the next Congress."

The third lesson Republicans should learn from the past, said Walker and Eaglen, is that "the military was forced to bridge the gap between the GOP’s fiscal ambition and its limited congressional power. The Budget Control Act initially cut $487 billion from defense. The law required 50% of additional reductions to come from defense, which accounted for only 20% of federal spending. Over the next decade, the U.S. spent less on defense than originally planned—and less efficiently."

"With operations in the Middle East continuing and threats from China and Russia on the rise, a chaotic cycle of continuing resolutions and late appropriations forced the military to do more with less. The resulting readiness crisis not only cost tens of billions of dollars to redress later; it put the lives of American service members in jeopardy," read the article.

The writers pointed out that "House Republicans in 2023 will have a much narrower mandate than they did in 2011, when the realities of divided government turned dreams of fiscal discipline into a nightmare of fiscal disorder wrought by the Budget Control Act and sequestration."

Walker and Eaglen concluded their opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal by saying that "as our military edge over China hangs in the balance today, the new majority must protect our armed forces from another lost decade of solipsism and shortsightedness."

Read more: Republican Kari Lake rejects Arizona results, promises legal fight

  • United States
  • Republican Party
  • Democratic Party
  • US
  • House of Representatives

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS