Rep. Mike D. Rogers of Alabama, the committee’s ranking Republican, said the defense budget request “doesn’t keep pace with China. It doesn’t even keep pace with inflation.” “The only reason [President Biden] is not spending more on defense is because the radical left is pushing him to cut it,” Mr. Rogers said. “They want to slash defense spending by 10% or more. To his credit, the president has not gone that far, but what he’s proposing is far from what we need for a credible deterrent.” A war with China “would be an enormous expensive undertaking in terms of all measures and I would be concerned about the ability to sustain a long term conflict,” Gen. Milley said.