United States military spending fell by 6.5 percent in 2014, according to a report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The Hill reports U.S. investment in defense is now 20 percent lower than in 2010, when it reached its all-time high. A major contributor to the cuts is sequestration, which Pentagon officials have said hurts their ability to defend the country.
"As they see we're not going to invest in them, [our soldiers] begin to lose faith," Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said earlier this year.
"Sometimes we take for granted the level of ability of our people, and the level of investment we've made in their training, which is central to everything we do. With sequestration, we are going to have to reduce that for sure."
Recruitment has also become a major logistical challenge. Rather than increase investment to attract talent, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is mulling easing the standards of enlistment.
The report indicated that defense budgets in other regions of the world had seen an uptick in military spending. A number of Eastern European countries revised their budgets for increased spending following the Ukraine crisis.
China dramatically increased military funding by nearly 10 percent, leading its continent, which saw an overall 5 percent increase. The largest increase in the world came from Saudi Arabia, whose spending is directly tied to the threat they face from Iran in a chaotic Middle East.
The report showed a clear trend of the West decreasing spending at the same time the rest of the world is ramping up. The next three largest military spenders after the U.S.–China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia have "substantially increased" their investments in defense.
"World military spending, while falling for the third year in a row, has levelled off as reductions in the United States and Western Europe were largely matched by increases in Asia and Oceania, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa," SIPRI said.
President Obama agreed that U.S. spending on the military is inadequate.
The president suggested that the sequester threatens the U.S. military because it "doesn't differentiate between smart government spending and dumb government spending."
Republicans in both the House and Senate passed a budget increasing military spending by $38 billion and creating an addition $2 billion in emergency war funding.
"We need to make sure the No. 1 priority for the federal government is adequately funded, so I support any means necessary to accomplish that goal," Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) said.
The House and Senate will convene in conference in an effort to merge the two budgets into one finalized concurrent resolution.