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Relook Playbook: Defense Budgeting Insights From a CSBA Rebalancing Exercise

Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments | English | AcademicThink | April 4, 2025 | UndeterminedBudgets-Budgeting

In February 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instructed the Pentagon to reassess the 2026 budget request, aiming to align it with the priorities of the Trump administration. He directed military departments and defense agencies to identify lower-priority activities that could account for 8 percent of their projected annual budgets from 2026 to 2030. The proposed cuts will create a significant resource pool for potential reallocation, enabling senior officials to influence the Department of Defense budget in a way that enhances competition with China.

The "Relook Playbook," authored by Travis Sharp, Casey Nicastro, and Evan Braden Montgomery from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), provides guidance for analysts and policymakers on evaluating this reexamination effort. Drawing from insights gained during a CSBA Strategic Choices Exercise, the authors categorize potential defense investments into four areas: top priority investments, strategy-dependent investments, resource-dependent investments, and bottom priority investments, offering clarity on where specific capabilities fit within these classifications.

Additionally, the authors suggest initial areas where the Pentagon might seek savings, as well as the probable limitations of these efforts and alternative approaches for resource management. They emphasize that without a consistent real annual growth in the defense budget of at least 2 percent, senior officials will face significant trade-offs that may challenge their decision-making capabilities.

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