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)