Outside the Beltway

Wednesday’s Forum

· Wednesday, April 22, 2026 · 1 comment

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FILED UNDER: Open Forum,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter and/or BlueSky.

Comments

  1. Scott says:
    Wednesday, 22 April 2026 at 07:45

    This is so over the top. And not a word on how to pay for it. BTW, Trump is already responsible for about 25% of the national debt ($10B and counting).

    Pentagon seeks funds for Golden Dome, drones, AI in largest-ever budget request

    The Department of Defense on Tuesday unveiled a $1.5 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2027 — a 42% year-over-year increase and the most expensive military outlay in modern history.
    …
    According to officials, President Donald Trump’s key priorities include investments in the “Golden Dome” — a multi-layered defensive shield intended to safeguard the American homeland — as well as in drone warfare, artificial intelligence, data infrastructure, and the defense industrial base.

    Under the proposal, each branch of the military would receive a substantial increase in funding, with appropriations rising by 33.6% for the Air Force, 24.3% for the Navy and 23.9% for the Army.
    …
    In line with the president’s ambition to construct a “Golden Fleet” — an expanded Navy with a new line of Trump-class battleships as its centerpiece — more than $65 billion would be allocated to procure 18 warships and 16 support ships. This represents the largest shipbuilding request since 1962, officials said.

    When it comes to the evolving battlefield, the Pentagon is slated to make an unprecedented commitment to drones and the systems designed to counter them. $53.6 billion would be earmarked for autonomous drone platforms and contested logistics, while another $21 billion would be reserved for munitions, counter-drone technologies and advanced systems like the Collaborative Combat Aircraft and MQ-25.
    …
    The department is also seeking to commit $64.5 billion toward developing next-generation munitions systems, including missiles, armored vehicles and helicopters. The package encompasses systems such as Patriot and THAAD interceptors, Precision Strike Missiles and the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle.

    Add in $500B for the VA, $100B for National Intelligence budget, $33B for the National Nuclear Security Administration, you are well over $2 Trillion dollars.

    As Trump said:

    “We’re fighting wars,” the president told guests, according to a video that was published — and later deleted — by the White House. “It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare. Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. They can do it on a state basis, you can’t do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing: military protection. We have to guard the country.”

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