Obama's budget avoids big cuts to US military spending: The Pentagon laid out a budget plan Wednesday that holds military spending steady next year without taking into account the cost of the war in Afghanistan or rolling automatic budget cuts.
President Barack Obama's request of $526.6 billion for the Defense Department keeps the base budget at about the same level as in 2013, avoiding dramatic cuts to weapons or benefits.
But the proposal leaves out the cost of the war in Afghanistan, projected to surpass $80 billion in the current fiscal year. And it does not address automatic cuts that remain in force without a deal in a deadlocked Congress
