The Biden Administration’s Proposed Defense Budget Risks Conflict with International Law

In March, President Biden released his annual budget proposal, including what would be one of the largest budgets for defense in United States history: $813 billion with nearly $51 billion allocated to nuclear weapons spending. The proposed four percent increase to military defense, including vast nuclear modernization, sharply contravenes Biden’s campaign pledges. Biden, while on the campaign trail, said the United States "does not need new nuclear weapons" and promised that his administration would work to reduce "reliance and excessive expenditure on nuclear weapons." Moreover, President Biden’s proposed budget not only represents costly and perilous policy priorities, but it also could bring about serious violations of international law, including of United States’ treaty obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

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