WASHINGTON — House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry warned against "low expectations" for the defense budget as he repeated his case Monday for a $640 billion base budget for national security in fiscal 2018.

A day before the Trump White House is set to announce a 2018 federal budget proposal with $603 billion for national security, Thornberry, R-Texas, dissed that number as "basically the Obama approach." At $603 billion, it would exceed Obama administration projections by $18.5 billion.

"I think the budget the president will propose is roughly 3 percent more than President Barack Obama suggested for this year. It's roughly a 5 percent increase over current year funding," Thornberry told a Brookings Institution audience on Monday. "So I think it is fair to say it is basically the Obama approach with a little bit more, but not much."

Nodding to the challenging budget environment, Thornberry paraphrased former U.S. President George W. Bush's 2000 speech to the NAACP, warning against "the soft bigotry of low expectations" for defense funding.

Lower expectations were in evidence last week. House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said GOP infighting over U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed spending cuts could make it politically impossible for the party to find a path forward on fiscal 2018 appropriations bills, which are due in September. Also, House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Granger said she favors the $640 billion figure, but it won't be reached "unless something drops from heaven."

For full FY18 budget coverage,  click here

Thornberry argued the $640 billion top-line was borne of House Speaker Paul Ryan's request that he develop plans for 2018 that bridge to the military buildup Trump touted on the campaign trail. That buildup includes a 355-ship U.S. Navy, growing the U.S. Army and Marine Corps by 60,000 and 12,000 troops, respectively, and adding at least 100 combat planes to the U.S. Air Force.

To get there would require annual budget increases of 10 to 17 percent, akin to the defense buildup under former U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, Thornberry said.

Thornberry displayed a chart indicating Trump's budget would short 10 military capabilities, to include air dominance, naval presence and dominance, naval readiness recovery and ballistic missile defense. He also pointed to "significant munitions shortages."

"Looking at this today given what's happening with North Korea, I'm not sure we put enough in missile defense — both increasing the number in current systems, which are woefully short, and increase research into other systems," Thornberry said.

Thornberry, and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., are among lawmakers calling for a repeal of budget caps for defense, which would clear the way to defense budgets they say the nation needs to meet the myriad threats it faces. Asked whether there was progress toward such a deal on Monday, Thornberry lamented an appropriations process delayed when the GOP leadership punted fiscal 2017 budgeting until mid-year.

The White House budget blueprint expected Tuesday promises balanced budgets within 10 years through rosy economic predictions along with cuts to entitlement programs and domestic agencies in order to pay for its defense increase. Democrats and some Republicans are already signaling that the budget will be dead on arrival.

Congress needs to advance the GOP's healthcare overhaul plans to clear the way for the 2018 budget resolution and generate revenue for another key GOP agenda item: tax reform. Because there's no consensus on healthcare, there's speculation appropriations bills are likely to be delayed until late summer.

Yet, Thornberry was optimistic that with the "big moving pieces in play," Congress could finally tackle cuts for mandatory spending on entitlements, which would free up funds for the military. "We have an opportunity if we can get people good will to sit down," he said.

Meanwhile, Thornberry is challenged to figure out a top-line for the 2018 defense policy bill without a budget resolution. The clock is ticking, and he intends the HASC will mark up the bill in late June.

"Given the delays, there's several moving pieces here, so we'll just work through it step by step," he said.

Email:  jgould@defensenews.com     

Twitter:  @reporterjoe  

Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.

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