defense cuts

The area tumbled during the early 1990s downturn that was marked by defense cuts and overbuilding.

Republicans have traditionally supported robust military spending, and some House lawmakers including Kay Granger and Tom Cole, the heads of the powerful Appropriations and Rules committees, have said that defense cuts should be off the table.

Already, there’s concern that one agreement—capping spending at 2022 levels—would necessarily lead to defense cuts.

The concessions included limits on McCarthy’s power, such as by allowing a single lawmaker to initiate a vote to remove him as speaker and curtailing government spending, which could include defense cuts.

But Biden, who grew up as a Cold War Democrat, never promised deep defense cuts.