Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said Wednesday the Defense Department will need a bigger top-line budget next fiscal year to meet emerging requirements, Defense News reported Tuesday.
Paul McCleary Dempsey made a case for increasing DoD’s base budget to more than $535 billion in fiscal 2016 during the Defense One Summit in Washington.
Dempsey told his audience the agency began to plan its FY 2016 even before the U.S. decided to send troops to help de-escalate tensions in Europe and the Middle East as well as to contain the Ebola virus in West Africa.
President Barack Obama said earlier this month he will propose new language to Congress to account for the new defense missions, according the publication.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va) believes the next defense authorization should include initiatives to fight the Islamic State group and he predicts Congress will pass a new war spending bill early next year.
