Staff Reports
The Biden administration turned down a request for more money for American troops stationed overseas because of a lack of funds and other important defense needs. This decision was part of a bigger bill called H.R. 8070, which was meant to help the military and make life better for service members. This move makes a lot of people in the military and people who support them very angry.
The bill wanted to set aside $884.9 billion for the next year, with most of that money going to military projects and security. But, even though they had all this money, the government did not want to raise service pay.
👉🏻 Biden Shoots Down Effort To Give U.S. Troops A Pay Raise. However, Biden will burden taxpayers with an estimated $870 billion to $1.4 trillion to pay off student debt. Easy to tell where Biden’s priorities are. https://t.co/Sjy6Bs5sFT
— Craig Bieber (@CraigBieber59) June 13, 2024
The move is expected to give $1.2 billion to non-defense operations and $883.7 billion to military missions in 2025. This bill gave different bonuses and extras to military members and set staffing numbers for the active-duty and reserve components. It also changed how much financial and medical help is given to military members and their families. This was a big change that was made when the bill was being written.
As part of the move, the monthly pay for junior enlisted service members was raised. It was thought by experts that this would cost $24.4 billion over five years. Like, members in pay grade E-5 who have worked for the union for less than ten years would see a nearly 7% raise in pay. If you go from E-1 to E-4, the price would go up even more, by almost 15%.
The Biden administration thought that the planned pay raise would not be possible with the current budget, even with these plans in place. As stated in the experts' report, "the $883.7 billion authorized by H.R. 8070 for defense programs in 2025 is less than the $895.2 billion discretionary funding cap for defense programs specified in section 101 of Public Law 118-5, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023."
Some people say that the wage rise is needed to keep service members' morale up and make sure they are paid fairly, but others say that this is a bad choice.
The conservative editorial view on this story is that the Biden administration's refusal to raise military pay shows that they don't back or respect the military. To show our appreciation for the sacrifices our service members make for our country, we should give them a fair wage right away. It's sad to see money going to other projects while the people who protect our country don't get paid enough. It's even scarier that foreign help is more important than the health of our armed forces. It shows that Americans and national security are not being taken seriously.
