While Nation Reels, Pentagon Budget Keeps Ramping Up Nuclear Weapons

By Christian Ephriam, National Priorities Project

It appears that, once again, Congress will pass a colossal military spending budget as part of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act. This June, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to tack an additional $45 billion dollars onto Biden’s proposed national defense budget, raising the topline figure to a whopping $847 billion dollars.

A major component of this year’s proposed defense budget, much like last year’s, are efforts to “recapitalize and modernize” the nation’s “nuclear stockpile, delivery systems, and infrastructure” in light of the increasing supposed nuclear threats posed by Russia, China, and North Korea. The Senate Armed Services Committee’s proposals would allocate $22 billion to the National Nuclear Security Administration, $6.5 billion to the Department of Energy’s Defense Environmental Cleanup activities, $1.1 billion for the Department of Defense’s nuclear and defense activities, and an additional $2.9 billion to bolster U.S. plutonium pit capabilities as part of these efforts. Meanwhile, the House Armed Services Committee has pledged $29.5 billion for nuclear weapons programs within the Department of Energy, signaling a unified commitment to the nuclear enterprise.