Biden to ask for $813B in defense, national security spending: report

President Biden is expected to ask for $813.3 billion in defense and national security spending for fiscal 2023, officials familiar with the plan told Bloomberg.

The request would represent a $31 billion increase over the $782 billion in defense spending included in the government funding bill Biden signed into law earlier this month.

Of that number, $773 billion would be for the Pentagon, the outlet reported.

A White House official didn’t confirm the number when asked by The Hill, but said the president’s budget request would be “one of the largest investments in national security in U.S. history.”

The official said that the request would support continued security assistance to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion. It will also “invest in strengthening our defense, the security of the Indo-Pacific, and the NATO alliance.”

Biden is expected to unveil his fiscal 2023 budget request on Monday. 

The president asked for $753 billion in overall defense and national security spending for fiscal 2022, but that was ultimately increased to $782 billion.

Forty Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services committees wrote a letter to Biden on Wednesday asking him to increase the national defense budget by 5 percent above inflation, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other threats from North Korea and Iraq. 

“The security of the free world depends on a credible American military,” the lawmakers wrote. “We must work together to ensure the men and women of our Armed Services have the resources and support they need to successfully carry out their missions now and for decades to come.”