Congressional Democrats are urging President Biden to cut defense spending. However, national security experts say that's not a good idea right now.
The United States, once the world's undisputed military power, has been falling behind for years in developing and using cutting-edge weapons and vehicles.
“The Joint Chiefs [of Staff] are increasingly aware that we don’t have a competitive advantage across the domains of air, sea, and space. So, when those advantages are at risk, it either makes conflict more likely, or the risk of losing,” Mackenzie Eaglen, a National security analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said.
Eaglen believes slashing billions of dollars from the defense budget while proposing trillions for other departments doesn't make any sense. She says the biggest concern: keeping up with advances by China in areas like artificial intelligence.
“The most pressing need is to urgently acquire new capabilities, technologies and concepts to effectively deter China,” Eaglen explained. “Right now, they are not afraid of America’s military, and that’s what’s concerning.”