Defense Budget Materials

The December 2010 Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform proposed cutting $1,230 billion over the period 2012-2020 from the security category, which constitutes about two-thirds of the discretionary budget. Security includes all defense spending, although for purposes of the caps war spending was addressed separately. It also includes spending on nuclear weapons, homeland security, veterans, and international affairs. Spending would be frozen at 2011 levels in 2012, estimated at $688 billion, and brought down to inflation-adjusted pre-crisis levels in 2013. This path would require serious belt-tightening to begin in 2012, followed by substantial nominal cuts in 2013. This would be done by holding spending growth to about half the rate of inflation. Although the Report is not overly explicit, this seems to entail a cut [from the President's budget] of about $60 billion in 2012 and $100 billion in 2013.
President Obama promised to cut $400 billion over a 12-year period. "These proposed cuts would come from an overall national security budget of approximately $1 trillion a year - which [also] includes portions of the budgets of Homeland Security, the State Department, intelligence services, and others," This amounts to three percent cut, roughly half of which would take place after Obama completes his second term in office, should he have one.
The House Budget Committee "Path to Prosperity" plan of April 5, 2011 "Reflects $178 billion in savings identified by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, reinvesting $100 billion in higher military priorities and dedicating the rest to deficit reduction." Under this plan, Defense Department [ie, 050, a narrower category than used by President Obama], would grow from $583 billion in 2012 [not including the $127 billion supplemental] to $703 billion in 2021 [in then-year dollars not adjusted for inflation], for total spending of $6.461 trillion over the period 2012-2021. The annual GWOT supplemental is projected at $50 billion in the outyears, for a total spending of $577 billion over the period 2012-2021. The Congressional Budget Office is less confident of victory, and projects an additional $1,044 billion in war spending over this period.