WASHINGTON — Congressional critics have blasted the plan.
Despite that, the nation's top two military leaders will venture up to Capitol Hill later this week to defend the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Defense budget.
The budget would also result in the Navy experiencing a net sum loss of two warships in its fleet.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley will testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
"The Secretary and Chairman look forward to speaking to members of Congress on the department's efforts to build a budget aimed at keeping America secure in the 21st century," Pentagon spokesman, Brigadier General Pat Ryder said to reporters on Tuesday.
He said that the plan is "a strategy-driven budget that will help the department implement the President's National Security Strategy."