The Biden administration is “strongly opposed” to a proposal to raise pay for junior soldiers in the military, even after spending almost seven times the proposed amount on Ukraine and broader regional security.
The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) draft National Defense Authorization Act for 2025 (NDAA) would give pay to all junior soldiers. increaseThis amounts to a total of approximately $24.4 billion over five years. according to To the Congressional Budget Office. The Biden administration statement The company said Tuesday it would not support the proposed “significant and permanent” pay increases until it has had an opportunity to conduct a compensation review. (Related article: Korean War veteran with shrapnel wound in leg receives Purple Heart 73 years later)
“The Administration is committed to taking care of our service members and their families and appreciates the Committee’s consideration of the needs of our lowest-ranking enlisted personnel, but we strongly oppose making significant, permanent changes to base pay prior to the completion of the 14th Military Pay Quadrennial Review,” the White House Budget Office said.
US President Joe Biden boards Marine One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland en route to Wilmington, Delaware, June 11, 2024. (Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP) (Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration has spent more than $175 billion on Ukraine and European security aid since 2022, roughly one-seventh of the proposed pay increase for junior soldiers. according to The $175 billion package, which was submitted to the Committee on Budget Responsibility, is split into several packages over two years, including the latest round of aid. package By April, it had hit $61 billion.
“When you factor in inflation, the average American makes less than they did when Joe Biden took office. The White House wants to stop Republicans from raising the pay of our troops, which they need to make ends meet in the Biden economy,” HASC member Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Meanwhile, they’re sending the Ukrainian government $11,500 per Ukrainian household. It’s shameful.”
The bipartisan members of HASC pushed for the pay increase for junior soldiers as a way to improve recruitment and retention, issues the military has increasingly struggled with. study A study conducted by HASC and released in April found that “service members, especially lower-ranking NCOs and those supporting large families, are struggling to buy homes and provide for their families.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Republican National Committee releases video of Republican lawmakers slamming Biden on his military, veterans record)
Military members should not have to struggle to provide for or house their families.
25th fiscal year #NDAA Increases military pay for junior enlisted personnel by raising pay by 15 percent, expanding housing and food allowances, and improving cost-of-living calculations. pic.twitter.com/X3Hmw4mH66
— Military Republicans (@HASCRepublicans) April 11, 2024
The study found that junior soldiers’ pay levels have not remained competitive with the civilian job market, especially with rising inflation, and that in eight of the past 40 years, junior soldiers have received lower pay increases than their senior counterparts or have not received any at all.
“Joe Biden must hate our troops,” Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a fellow committee member, told the DCNF. “Our junior service members’ families struggle on food stamps, while this administration opposes a pay raise for them and tries to force them into pronoun training and drag queen story hours. If Biden had any pride in our troops, he would support the long-overdue pay raise passed by House Republicans.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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