Defense Secretary Jim Mattis finished his first round of congressional testimony on the 2018 defense budget Monday night, and it showed the challenge he faces this week in selling President Trump's plan to lawmakers in the House and Senate.
Mattis spent much of his first appearance before the House Armed Services Committee defending the budget proposal from defense hawks who believe it is far too small.
"The administration's budget request of $603 billion for base requirements is 6 percent above the FY 2017 enacted levels and 3 percent above the last Obama administration budget proposal," Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said in his opening statement. "It is also $37 billion below what this committee assessed last fall was needed and about $58 billion below the FY '12 Gates budget, which was validated by the bipartisan National Defense Panel."
The secretary is likely to hear similar criticism Tuesday morning when he testifies to the Senate Armed Services Committee, where Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., holds the chairman gavel and has led calls to increase Trump's proposed Defense Department base budget from $603 billion to $640 billion.
Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will then move to appropriations committees in the Senate and House on Wednesday and Thursday.
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05.16.2025