White Paper: Personnel Costs Fed Budget Growth

The cost of meeting pay and benefits requirements for military personnel has been the largest contributor to the Defense Department’s base budget between 2000 and 2014, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Personnel costs rose 46 percent during that period, CBO stated in a Nov. 20 report. By contrast, Operations and maintenance increased 34 percent, while acquisition went up 25 percent. In total, the Pentagon’s budget grew to $502 billion in 2014, compared to $384 in 2000.