Law

Is the Defense Department Sending Congress Mixed Signals?

There seems to be a fundamental disconnect between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s directive identifying China as the “nation’s number one pacing challenge” and President Joe Biden’s Budget (PB) Request for Defense. The PB doesn’t reflect the funding for the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) Admiral John Aquilino’s priorities. Aquilino put his critical needs in the “unfunded requirements […]