Will the military budget be Trump’s deal-making toolkit?

This month President Donald Trump said his forthcoming budget proposal will include “a historic increase in defense spending,” which will seek an additional $54 billion for the military. This equates to a 10 percent increase to the defense budget. … 

$54 billion would buy a lot for the military, including many things our forces need but also things they do not need or even want. I observed this reality firsthand when for eight years I was the deputy garrison commander for the Army in Alaska (1997-2005) ….

… I was shocked. … I politely mentioned that the barracks renovation this year was unnecessary, and that we were jumping through numerous hoops to make it happen. I was told, in a straightforward and almost casual manner, that these kinds of things happen all the time. He said the work would be done by Alaskan companies, and similar inserts were made by senators from other states for their bases. “This is how it works,” he said.

… I finally realized the reason I never encountered these sorts of situations in Germany. There are no U.S. congressional districts there, no competing politicians vying to bring a slice of the defense budget pie home to their states.

Dan Possumato

Filling up the pork barrel with $54 billion for the military  

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - March 19, 2017

NOTE:  While senators might retain the ability to get some military appropriations reassigned, the president would obviously hold the ultimate power to do so and would be in a position to use this ability as a bargaining tool if funds were available. -- JJ