When the world's at stake,
go beyond the headlines.

In this episode, Chris and Melanie are joined by Thomas Spoehr of the Heritage Foundation to talk about President Trump’s FY2021 defense budget request: What’s good in this budget, what’s really bad, and what surprised them the most. Chris presses the issue of hearings on Afghanistan, Melanie recommends a new book on the presidency, and Thomas applauds a celebration of Washington’s birthday.

Links

• “President’s Budget FY 2021,” White House, February 10, 2020
• “Defense Budget Overview: Irreversible Implementation of the National Defense Strategy,” Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, February 2020
• Aaron Mehta, “Here’s How Much Money the Pentagon Found through Internal Savings and Where It’s Going,” Defense News, February 6, 2020
• David Larter, “As China Continues Rapid Naval Expansion, the US Navy Begins Stockpiling Ship-Killing Missiles,” Defense News, February 11, 2020
• Andrew Taylor, “Trump’s $4.8 Trillion Budget Proposal Revisits Rejected Cuts,” AP News, February 10, 2020
• Marcus Weisgerber, “DOD’s 2021 Budget Would Trim Arsenal, Shift Funds to Arms Development,” Defense One, February 10, 2020
• Stephen F. Knott, The Lost Soul of the American Presidency, (University of Kansas Press, 2019)
• Ashley Townsend, Brendan Thomas-Noone, and Matilda Steward, “Averting Crisis: American Strategy Military Spending, and Collective Defense in the Indo-Pacific,” United States Studies Centre, August 19, 2019
• Thomas Spoehr, “Why the US Navy Needs At Least 355 Ships,” National Interest, February 11, 2020

Image: Flickr (Photo by Mike)