This week, President Donald Trump and SECWAR Hegseth put on a double team effort to highlight shortfalls in America’s defense- budget, one of nine still unfunded and which could cause a shut-down in three weeks. Wait, Is that ‘defense’ or actually the ‘WAR” budget?

The routine news from the Hill this morning highlights what is coming in the next three weeks. It is one of those paradoxical legislative moment. The House passed a bipartisan package of three spending bills on Thursday with overwlming bi-partisan majorities. Socotra House is privileged to have Melissa and Vic who are veterans fo the budget wars and they had a brief Saturday note about who got funded and how much cash we are talking about.

They were apologetic in their presentation, since they were used to seeing eyes glaze over on otherwise hard-working people the second they started talking about discretionary and obligated funds and the levels of Program 2 and 3 appropriations contained within..

This is a little different this morning, since the three Appropriations bills now headed for the Senate are relatively small potatoes, amounting to about $175 Billion. That will fund the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Departments of Commerce and Justice. The overwhelming vote was 397-28, an unusual display of unity considering the vitriol on display in places like Minneapolis.

This unity is a cover for more vitriol, of course. The billions allocated for those activities amounts to almost a quarter of the War Department submission, which is the pivot on which the other news teeters. Word from the Nation’s largest naval base at Norfolk is that the War budget needs to almost double, to $1.5 Trillion. If you say it the long way- one thousand five hundred billion bucks- you can see the outlines of what the rest of this month will bring.

The War budget is just one of the nine budget bills that must be passed by 30 January. SECWAR Hegseth’s announcement in Norfolk signifies the importance he attaches to revitalizing a ship building program that must be able to tangle with China’s naval feet, now largest on the World Ocean.

Passing three of the twelve appropriations bills is really only a step to funding a fiscal year that is already more than half past. The three bills passed by the House will fund parts of the federal government through September, demonstrating the eagerness of lawmakers to avoid another government shutdown.

Failure to pass the remainder of the Appropriations bills before a Jan. 30th deadline will prompt an automatic shutdown just weeks after the record-setting, 43-day shutdown that occurred late last year.

The proposal to increase the U.S. defense budget to $1.5 trillion represents a 50% rise, and reaches near the 5% percent of Gross Domestic Product specified for NATO’s allies. The Allies have averaged only over 2% funding, enabling them to ride the US taxpayers for bargain-basement defense, This would double the biggest Reagan-era hikes, aiming to bolster U.S. military capabilities amid the myriad rising global tensions.

Melissa pushed an icon on her tablet and slid the device into her designer bag.

“I can see some of you starting to nod off, so I will end my summary with the slide projected on the big screen on the south wall.” She waved at the bullets on the glowing screen. “Here is the deal. The House is going to get the small fry out of the way first.”

“That will take next week with a lot of sharing and back and forth. Then next weekend we will see what is coming for the end of January. Trump’s proposed $500 billion boost to WAR would match the total annual spending of all non-U.S. NATO countries and reflect a major military buildup unprecedented in recent decades.”

(Iranian missiles are displayed at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(IRGC) Aerospace Force Museum in Tehran, Iran, November 12, 2025 (photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

That statement woke up the older folks, since they had passed through several of these fights. But those had been much smaller and less vitriolic. “We need to address our ability to respond if the Big One starts in the Caribbean or Iran. Missile stock depletion demonstrated in recent conflicts threatens our ability to engage prolonged major wars.” He sat down with a thump and picked up his mug of Fat Yank coffee.

“We also need to respond to lagging U.S. production behind Russia and China. That includes expanding manufacturing capability for artillery shells, naval ships, and advanced weapons systems. That includes maintaining the systems we have, while fielding cutting-edge technologies.”

“So, if the Senate passes the three bills the House sent them, we can be confident that the Mississippi will remain safe to navigation by the Corps of Engineers?” There was a round of guffaws that could be heard all the way from the Galley. Holly leaned back in her chair and said: “So what’s next?”

Melissa looked around the small weekend crowd. “Dunno. Adding five or six hundred billion to War is probably necessary but will be a matter of conversation. And plop that on top of the hysteria about ObamaCare subsidies and eight other appropriations bills. If the disturbances continue in Minneapolis, there will be some rhetoric that sounds a lot like insurrection. And there are the eight other Approps bills that need to get to the Senate. So, the next three weeks are going to have some excitement.”

Splash suddenly sat upright. “I prefer my excitement to come in chilled glassware. Are we going to have another shut-down?”

Miles frowned. “The last shut down wasn’t that bad for us military retirees since the checks kept coming. I anticipate something like a freeze on those funds will bring this home in a vey personal way. We could have another short Government shut down just as the Ayatollahs make the move against their people that Trump warned them about. Fires of hell or something.”

The was some general nodding, several frowns and one mug that collided with another with a resounding clunk. Miles looked at Melissa and they both looked sternly down the Conference Table. “You can see we are going to be busy with the police being brought to trial for shooting that woman, the President of Venezuela being brought to trial in New York, and everyone in Washington and five states shouting at each other. I think we will see something spectacular in the days before current funding expires. So, I recommend we treat this weekend as the last normal one we will see before Spring.”

He closed the lid on his laptop before continuing. “So, I am officially telling the Galley staff to move Happy Hour up to fifteen hundred today and tomorrow. And then go light until we know if our last check from the government clears.”

Splash and Rocket seemed prepared to move things up even further and there was the possibility that what was in their mugs did not feature the product of coffee beans. As Vic has observed, “If you don’t understand what you are voting on, you may as well have fun while doing it.

Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra

www.vicsocotra.com