Bloomberg reports that “President Barack Obama’s $534.3 billion spending request for the Defense Department, a 7.7 percent increase, comes amid warnings of a growing gap between what the military is asked to do and the funding needed to do it.”  

“The core defense budget request, which exceeds federal budget caps by about $36 billion, sets the stage for a contentious debate in Congress about the constraints imposed by budget rules and how to align defense strategy and spending.”  

“That challenge is compounded by the reality that the U.S. is facing ‘security challenges more diverse and complex than those we have experienced in our lifetimes,’ Marine Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said in congressional testimony prepared for a hearing Tuesday.”