It has often seemed like there is no limit to how much money congressional Republicans are willing to shove into the United States military. But, conditions in America are making it seem less a sure proposition that Senate Republicans will soon be following through on the big military spending demands coming from President Donald Trump.
First, there is the especially unpopular Iran War dragging on. Second, there is the November general election just three months away in which Republicans see their majorities in the US House of Representatives and Senate under serious threat from voters upset about economic problems in America. Voting to greatly increase US annual military spending to 1.5 trillion dollars and put tens of billions more toward paying for the war against Iran has become a serious political liability. The last thing many Americans struggling to make ends meet want to see is all that money thrown into military adventurism. Such spending, they soundly perceive, produces no good while it further worsens the economic conditions under which they suffer.
It looks like Republicans in the Senate may be willing to exercise some fiscal restraint on military spending. Instead of approving the military spending increase and the Iran War spending, Senate Republicans have left for August recess without taking action on the matters. As reported by Connor O’Brien and Mark Satter in a Monday article at Politico concerning Republicans not advancing Trump’s big military spending efforts, “an increasingly vocal group of GOP lawmakers argue the administration hasn’t explained why Republicans should burn valuable political capital in pursuit of Trump’s vision — especially with the midterms just months away.”
Republicans in the Senate may refrain over the next three months from approving large amounts of military spending. But, what will happen after the November 3 election? A high priority push to approve all Trump’s desired military spending may suddenly arise from Republican senators who, no matter the election outcome, will retain their majority at least until the swearing in of new senators in January.
