GOP Sen. Marshall: ‘We’re Spending Too Much Money on Defense’, We’re Not Going to Have as Many Ships as China

During an interview released on Wednesday’s “Fox News Rundown” podcast, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) said that “we’re spending too much money on defense.” And shipbuilding is likely an area of overspending. He also argued that “we’re never going to have as many ships as China does.”

While discussing funding the government, Marshall said, [relevant remarks begin around 4:25] “[Y]ou do have some other Republicans whose priorities are thinking we need more and more money for the military, and I just have to sit there and think, well, at what point do we ask Europe to be spending more money to take care of their problems so that we can divest ourselves of some of the challenges going on there?”

Later, while discussing the National Defense Authorization Act, Marshall stated, “I think we’re just spending too much money. And I’ll be in the minority in the Republican Conference here, saying that we’re spending too much money on defense. I think that there’s a lot of fraud, waste, and abuse there. It’s a $1 trillion budget item. And I just don’t think we have our priorities right. I’m not comfortable throwing more and more money at Europe. … I think Europe needs to step up. I think, overall, we’re spending too much money on the military. I think there [are] lots of opportunities for efficiencies. Obviously, they can’t pass any type of an audit right now.”

He added, “I’m much more concerned about China attacking our infrastructure, about cyberattacks, about bioterrorism, [those] types of things” than building ships. And “we don’t need to be able to fight a war on the South Sea — or in the South China Sea. I think that that’s — I see Japan buying lots more F-35s, and the countries there need to — India needs to be pushing back against them as well. So, I understand the craving for more ships, but we’re never going to have as many ships as China does. We need enough, but I think that we’re probably overspending on that budget item as well. The general theme here, I’m more concerned, is that we’re not building ships for just general cargo ships, those types of things. None of those are being built in America.”

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