The U.S. defense budget serves as a sign of how America has prioritized its global commitments and the bridge between strategy and implementation, where military capabilities define the roles and missions of America’s men and women in uniform. The defense budget has broad global impact, but understanding it is not always easy. As military spending finds its way into the nation’s headlines, learn more about how America allocates resources to support its strength abroad.

On Tuesday, May 15, join the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for a New American Security and the New America Foundation to discuss an issue sure to face the next president: U.S. defense spending in light of American grand strategy.

Under current law, the U.S. Department of Defense automatically faces significant spending cuts over the next 10 years—cuts that america's civilian and military leaders have cadidly described as "devastating" and "very high risk."

America is nearing a decisive moment.  Unless Congress acts to change current law, automatic sequestration cuts will slash future spending on national defense across-the-board by over $500 billion beginning early next year.

The joint statement released by the Defending Defense Coalition details the devastating impact that the upcoming automatic sequestration would have on the U.S. military and the consequent need for the House of Representatives to pass the reconciliation bill in order to defend national security strategy.

Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey is getting an appetite for political controversy.

President Obama’s budget cuts the U.S. military while asking those in uniform to accept more risk in their jobs and providing fewer resources to fulfill their missions. Congress should reject these proposals as going too far for too few and pass a budget resolution that adds additional resources to properly fund military readiness and modernization.

Rep. Paul Ryan calls his budget plan the “Path to Prosperity,” but it could be termed as well a “Path to Security.” In reclaiming more than $200 billion of the nearly $500 billion in military cuts made in last year’s Budget Control Act (BCA), the House Budget Committee chairman takes national security more seriously than does our commander in chief.