REQUESTED FISCAL YEAR 2005: Introduction

The Bush administration's fiscal year 2005 budget request

Miles A. Pomper

To understand an administration’s arms control and nonproliferation policies, there are few more concrete clues than the annual budget request it submits to Congress. Although policy statements can be endlessly rewritten and altered, budget documents crystallize an administration’s priorities in the clear calculus of cold, hard cash.

This issue of Arms Control Today includes detailed coverage of the U.S. federal budget process on programs relating to arms control and nonproliferation. We will track the Bush administration’s fiscal year 2005 budget proposals—unveiled in early February—as they wind their way through the congressional appropriations process and ultimately back to President George W. Bush’s desk for his signature. Our coverage will pay particular attention to funding missile defense systems, assistance to the former Soviet Union in securing its Cold War arsenal, and research for a new generation of nuclear weapons, among other critical issues.

Bush’s fiscal year 2005 budget request, which outlines the administration’s plans for spending between October 2004 and September 2005, came amid unusual circumstances: a swelling federal budget deficit of more than $500 billion, the ongoing deployment of tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a presidential election year. These circumstances mean Bush’s proposal is sure to face opposition on Capitol Hill, both from fiscally conservative Republicans concerned about high deficits and from Democrats eager to mount a political challenge. With a third of the Senate and the full House of Representatives up for re-election—and the fate of the chief executive at stake—lawmakers may not dig as deeply as usual into the nitty gritty details of the budget. However, some spending items are still sure to get congressional attention.

One hot spot will be funding for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The president requested $9.1 billion for NNSA—$383 million more than was appropriated in fiscal year 2004. Most of the increase—$335 million—is designated for Energy Department nuclear weapons programs and includes funds for researching low-yield nuclear weapons and the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (often termed “the bunker buster”), accelerating nuclear testing readiness, and building a new facility to manufacture the plutonium pits used in nuclear bombs.

Another point of contention will be Bush’s request for increased spending on missile defense systems—particularly spending to cover the costs of an initial deployment of a half-dozen interceptors in Alaska. Under the president’s request, total funding for all missile defense programs would rise in 2005 by about 10 percent, to more than $10 billion.