The FY 2009 Pentagon Spending Request - Discretionary
by Christopher Hellman [contact information]
by Travis Sharp [contact information]
February 4, 2008
The Fiscal Year 2009 budget request includes $997 billion for discretionary spending, money the President and Congress must decide and act to spend each year, roughly $541 billion of which will go to "National Defense" (Function 050). The "National Defense" category of the federal budget for FY'09 represents over half of all discretionary spending (54 percent). [NOTE: These totals do NOT include funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. If the $70 billion requested for the "Global War on Terror" were included in both the request for the Department of Defense and the total for discretionary spending, the percentage of Pentagon spending of total discretionary spending would jump to over 57 percent.]
The other category of federal spending is mandatory spending, money that is spent in compliance with existing laws that govern the particular program or function. Mandatory spending includes entitlements, which are money or benefits provided directly to individuals such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Federal Retirement. It also includes interest payments on the national debt.
GRAPH I. DISCRETIONARY BUDGET REQUEST FOR FY'09
(Budget Authority in Billions of Dollars)
(Budget Authority in Billions of Dollars)
For more information:
- Total Iraq and Afghanistan Supplemental War Funding To Date
- U.S. Spending on Iraq and Afghanistan by Month, Week, Day, Hour, Minute, & Second
- Historical Costs of Previous U.S. Wars
- FY 2009 Pentagon (DOD) Defense Budget Spending Request
- U.S. Defense Spending, 2001-2009
- 2008-2009 U.S. Defense Spending Highest Since WWII, Tops Vietnam and Korea
- Comparing the Defense Share of the FY 2009 Discretionary Budget Request to Other Programs
- FY 2009 Global Military Spending
Christopher Hellman 202-546-0795 chellman@armscontrolcenter.org
Christopher Hellman is the Military Policy Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where his work focuses on national security spending, military planning and policy, trends in the defense industry, global military spending, and homeland security. Hellman is a frequent media commentator on these issues. Previously, Hellman worked for the Center for Defense Information, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and spent ten years as a congressional staffer working on national security and foreign policy issues.
Travis Sharp 202-546-0795 x123 tsharp@armscontrolcenter.org
Travis Sharp is the Military Policy Analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where he performs policy work on national security spending, military policy, and Iraq. He has published letters and articles in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy in Focus, United Press International, and Peace Review.