$100B MILITARY SPENDING PLAN ADVANCED AMID CONCERNS OF BUDGET CUTS THREATENING VETERANS
On Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the Senate Budget Committee held a meeting about raising U.S. military spending to 100 billion dollars, which could potentially affect Veterans' benefits. What this exactly means for major weapons programs in unclear. Details about what the funding would pay for exactly will be determined by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, only if the resolution is adopted by both the House and Senate.
100 Billion in U.S. Military Spending Is Advanced
On Thursday night, the House Budget Committee signed the framework stating that the military expenditure expanded to 100 billion dollars. The framework would result in affecting the budget for the Veterans' beneficiaries.
On the other hand, the Senate Budget Committee met on Wednesday night to discuss increasing the budget by 150 billion dollars.
For the funding to be adequate, the House and Senate must merge their proposed U.S. military spending into one version. This way, the Republican party can bypass the Democratic party and have unanimous voting.
Republicans on Veteran’s Budget
After the 2024 election, the majority of the Republican party secured the majority in the House of Congress, making them significant contributors to policy making. There has only been a slight majority of the Republicans with 218 over the Democrats with 215 seats.
The Senate Republicans aim to strengthen defense and energy independence and move forward with a focus on the defense border treaty between the U.S. and Mexico. The House Republicans have been able to promote the three objectives of the Senate Republicans while incorporating the extension of Trump's 2017 tax cut.
Although the Republicans may just have won in their aim, the problem might rely on its negative impact on the Veteran's budget.
Democrats' Opposition to the Budget Resolution
The U.S. House Representatives requested that the Energy and Commerce, which handles one of the most significant healthcare support programs, Medicaid, cut its healthcare budget by 880 billion dollars.
Also, the agriculture committee budget should be cut to 230 billion dollars – this includes overseas food stamps and farm support, compromising the budget and support for the agricultural sector.
The Democratic party has opposed the resolution of the U.S. military spending budget house proposal as it affects the narrowing of the budget for healthcare services. Even if their opposition had been heard by the House Representative and in the Senate, the chances would be lower in their favor.
Expanding the Military Budget for Veterans
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy nonprofit organization, their analysis of healthcare service coverage includes Medicaid covering 10% of Veterans under the age of 65 and 40% of Veterans whose health insurance is only dependent on Medicaid.
"The U.S. military spending reduction is very severe in that it will strip the benefits of millions of veterans and low-income earners who hardly rely on the benefits of the budget," Rep. Morgan McGarvey said.
McGarvey added that more than two million children and connected military families are also included in Medicaid healthcare, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau data, 1.2 million Veterans still participate in the SNAP food assistance program.
If the House budget proposal is successful, the budget cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other healthcare providers will be compromised.
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