Total U.S. National Security Spending, 2014-2015
Total U.S. National Security Spending 2014-2015
(All figures are $billions; Then-Year$)
(Sources: Table 28-1 from Analytical Perspectives and Homeland Security Appendix in 2015 OMB Budget)
| National Security Program | 2014 as Enacted | 2015 as Requested | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| DOD Base Budget (Discretionary) | 496.0 | 495.6 | The “base” budget purportedly contains all routine, peacetime expenses; however, DOD and Congress have loaded tens of billions of such “base” spending into the Overseas Contingency Operations fund for declared wartime expenses. See below. |
| DOD Base Budget (Mandatory) | 5.7 | 6.2 | DOD often does not count this “mandatory” spending in its budget presentations to the public; however, being for military retirement and other DOD-only spending, it is as much a part of the DOD budget as military pay and acquisition. |
| DOD Base Budget (Total) | 501.7 | 501.8 | “Total” spending is discretionary and mandatory combined. |
| Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) | 85.2 | 79.4 | The $85.2 billion in 2014 contains at least $30 billion in “base” budget spending; read here and here. The $79.4 billion for 2015 is a “place holder” pending a decision on the actual amount to be requested, which may take months. The ultimate 2015 OCO request may be smaller, but that is not certain--given past behavior. |
| DOD Subtotal (TOTAL) | 586.9 | 581.2 | |
| DOE / Nuclear (Total) | 18.6 | 19.4 | For nuclear weapons activities. |
| "Defense-related activities" (Total) | 8.2 | 36.0 | This spending is usually just for international FBI activities, Selective Service, the National Defense Stockpile and other miscellaneous defense-related activities. For 2015 OMB added a $27.7 billion “Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative” that includes readiness and “wish list” DOD spending—the latter described here. |
| National Defense (Total) | 613.6 | 636.6 | This is the OMB budget function “National Defense” (also known as “050”) which is sometimes confused as Pentagon-only spending. |
| Military Retirement Costs Not Scored to DOD | 35.8 | 37.8 | This category shows funds paid by the Treasury for military retirement programs, minus interest and contributions from the DOD military personnel budget. The data for the amounts shown here are in functions 600, 900 and 950. As DOD-unique spending they should be displayed as part of the DOD budget, but they are not by either DOD or OMB. |
| DOD Retiree Health Care Fund Costs | 1.1 | 0.1 | Shown are nets costs to the Treasury for this DOD health care program. See functions 550 and 950. As DOD-unique spending, they should be displayed as part of the DOD budget, but they are not by either DOD or OMB. |
| Veterans Affairs (Total) | 151.3 | 161.2 | These costs are projected to increase to $238.1 billion in 2024 as the human costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to grow. |
| International Affairs (Total) | 38.5 | 39.0 | The amount for the International Affairs budget function (150) do not include its share of the yet to be determined request for OCO funding in this budget function for 2015. |
| Homeland Security (Total) | 51.0 | 52.1 | Includes Homeland Security spending in DHS for federal agencies not shown on this table (thereby excluding DOD, DOE, State and VA). |
| Share of Interest on the Debt | 76.3 | 82.7 | Total On-Budget Federal Budget Authority is $2.9 trillion in 2014 and $3.2 trillion in 2015. Total gross interest paid on Treasury debt is $254.3 billion in 2014 and $285.3 billion in 2015. The calculable shares of defense-related spending relative to the federal totals are 30% in 2014 and 29% in 2015. |
| Grand Total | 967.9 | 1,009.5 |
Click here for pdf format of chart.
-
Winslow Wheeler
Oversight in your inbox
Sent Saturdays
