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
Egyptian PM Mostafa Madbouli: Egypt is targeted in plans to redraw regional map
AEOI Chief Mohammad Eslami: Our presence in IAEA General Council and fact-checking helped in preventing unilateral rhetoric that aims to portray Iran as an unregulated country
AEOI Chief Mohammad Eslami: We witnessed new, stricter stances from European countries since signing new agreement with IAEA
Saree: Our UAV force targeted the so-called Ramon Airport in the Umm al-Rashrash area in southern occupied Palestine
YAF spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree: Our rocket force carried out an operation with a Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile targeting a sensitive target in the occupied Yafa area
Trump administration clears first Ukraine arms aid package paid for by allies: Reuters, citing sources
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman receives Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani at his office in Al-Yamamah Palace
Wakim: Surrender is not in our dictionary, and it is not true that "Israel" can implement its project in Lebanon and the region
Wakim: The US is preventing the armament of the Lebanese army. The question is, why are the weapons it is handed over by the Resistance being destroyed?
Wakim: The Resistance is required to hand over its weapons to the [current] authority. The question is: Is this authority independent or subservient to America?

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

Europe stance toughened post Iran-IAEA agreement: AEOI chief

Colombia halts arms purchases from US over drug combat delisting row

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

Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

American far-right activist Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
A screengrab from the ad played on Fox News. (X Screengrab)

Fox airs ad warning Trump not to let Netanyahu 'play' him on Gaza

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

  • Palestine
  • 14 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Britain Trained Israeli Soldiers Involved in Gaza War: Declassified
Europe

UK training of Israeli officers sparks outcry over Gaza war complicity

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Politics

Luxembourg to recognize Palestine at UN summit next week

European Union flags flap in the wind outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 (AP)
Politics

EU exec. branch to adopt new sanctions against 'Israel' on Wednesday

Charlie Kirk killing suspect faces charges in Utah court hearing
US & Canada

Charlie Kirk murder suspect faces formal charges in Utah court hearing

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