WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — McCain noted that the change is just a 3 percent increase over former President Barack Obama's budget projection.
"President Trump’s $603 billion defense budget request is inadequate to the challenges we face, illegal under current law, and part of an overall budget proposal that is dead on arrival in Congress," McCain stated.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration unveiled the new budget that reduces funding for several government departments and health care programs such as Medicaid. The proposed budget has already received criticism from Congress, where both Republicans and Democrats have voiced opposition to planned spending cuts.
Lawmakers will in the coming months produce their own draft budget and are likely to disregard the president's proposals, as they have done with past presidents.
