U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Eric Summers Jr. WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has identified more than $5 billion in programs from which it wants to shift money to fund higher-priority initiatives, according to a draft budget document reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
The targets for reduced funding include the “right-sizing” of about 50 medical facilities across the country, consolidating some logistics operations and reducing the subsidy for Stars and Stripes, the military’s independent newspaper, the draft document said.
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Defense Secretary Mark Esper directed aides to review funding for nearly $100 billion in nonmilitary Pentagon programs to find cash to redirect toward initiatives considered higher-priority, such as combating threats from China and Russia, and away from efforts focusing on the Middle East, according to the document.
Defense officials also identified an additional $2 billion to be realigned within the individual services of the Army, Navy and Air Force, according to the draft.
The transferred money would be reinvested in nuclear modernization, space, missile defense, hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence and next-generation communications and force “readiness,” the draft said.
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.
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