FY2018 Defense Budget Request: The Basics

Summary

The President’s FY2018 budget request includes $677.1 billion for national defense (budget function 050), of which $646.9 billon is allocated for the DOD (budget subfunction 051). The funding request for national defense discretionary spending ($602.9 billion) is $54 billion—or 9%—above the FY2018 limit imposed on discretionary defense spending by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA/P.L. 112-25).

Of the DOD total, $574.5 billion covers the base, discretionary spending. An additional $64.6 billion of the DOD total is to support Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). These operations include the (1) continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, (2) assistance to Iraqi and Syrian opposition forces, and (3) enhanced U.S. presence in Eastern Europe, referred to as the European Reassurance Initiative (ERI).