U.S. Department of Defense in Focus: Budget Priorities and New Nominees

The Council on Strategic Risks identifies critical gaps in U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) priorities, specifically noting a decline in biodefense spending and the need to operationalize climate resilience tools. The authors provide a set of targeted questions for nominees to key positions—including the Secretary of the Army and various Under Secretaries—to ensure that climate change, biological threats, and nuclear modernization are integrated into national security strategy and budget planning.

• The Biden administration's topline budget priorities include a 1.6% increase for the Department of Defense, which represents a slight decrease when adjusted for inflation.
• Spending by the Department of Defense on biodefense to counter biological weapons has decreased by one-third over the last ten years.
• The U.S. Army has developed the Army Climate Resilience Handbook and the Army Climate Assessment Tool to meet Congressional requirements, but these tools now require operationalization.
• The Intelligence Community has consistently identified climate change as a risk to international stability and national security across multiple presidential administrations.

APA

Beaver, B., Parthemore, C., & Sikorsky, E. (2021). U.S. Department of Defense in Focus: Budget Priorities and New Nominees. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/04/29/u-s-department-of-defense-in-focus-budget-priorities-and-new-nominees/

Chicago

Beaver, Bill, Christine Parthemore, and Erin Sikorsky. U.S. Department of Defense in Focus: Budget Priorities and New Nominees. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2021. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/04/29/u-s-department-of-defense-in-focus-budget-priorities-and-new-nominees/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Beaver |first1=Bill |last2=Parthemore |first2=Christine |last3=Sikorsky |first3=Erin |title=U.S. Department of Defense in Focus: Budget Priorities and New Nominees |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=29 April 2021 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/04/29/u-s-department-of-defense-in-focus-budget-priorities-and-new-nominees/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{beaver2021department, author = {Beaver, Bill and Parthemore, Christine and Sikorsky, Erin}, title = {{U.S. Department of Defense in Focus: Budget Priorities and New Nominees}}, publisher = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/04/29/u-s-department-of-defense-in-focus-budget-priorities-and-new-nominees/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }