Defense spending has fallen off a cliff under President Joe Biden, shrinking as a percentage of gross domestic product to pre-World War II budgets and the short-lived “peace dividend” days during former President Bill Clinton’s administration.

According to a new budget analysis, the nation is spending just 3.6% of GDP — $866 billion — at a time when it is engaged in multiple military actions, notably in Ukraine, Israel, and the Red Sea, and bracing for a move by China on Taiwan.

“The fiscal year 2024 defense budget does raise spending as a share of GDP marginally, but to a level essentially tied for the lowest in the last 84 years with the ‘peace dividend’ during the Clinton administration. In fact, defense spending in 2024 will be a smaller share of GDP than it was before the Ukraine war began,” according to a new report from Princeton Policy Advisors, an outfit that specializes in analyzing federal spending and policies.

President Steven Kopits said in his report shared with Secrets that the new budget pushed by Biden will increase the level to 3.8% of GDP, but that is disturbingly low.

“Given the perilous state of global security, defense spending stands at irresponsibly low levels and represents more mockery of, than commitment to, national security. To suggest that the U.S. cannot afford to fund the war against Russia, that somehow we are tapped out and compelled to take a loss in Ukraine, is flatly untrue. Defense has been pathetically neglected under the Biden administration,” he said.

As president, Biden has focused on climate change, diversity, and domestic projects. He has delivered aid and weapons to Israel and Ukraine in their wars.

But critics have said he is less focused on the Pentagon. The recent scandal over Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s secret stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center highlights the concerns.

Kopits also criticized Congress for not forcing more defense spending and suggested that a more robust plan might force Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.

“This much is clear: The U.S. is strong. Our military potential is not exhausted, it’s untapped. It is our political potential which is exhausted. There is a lack of seriousness in Washington. The Biden administration appears to be playing at war rather than knuckling down and winning it. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans seem ready to abandon national security. Behind all this is the notion that projecting weakness and indecision will translate into perceptions of strength and political popularity. If only our politicians show sufficient hesitation, lack of conviction and subservience to Moscow, U.S. voters will love them. It’s a model of leadership through capitulation,” he wrote.

CATCH UP ON ALL THE LATEST BUZZ WITH THE EXAMINER’S WASHINGTON SECRETS

His report echoed concerns raised by other defense experts, including Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, who wrote in Forbes that spending on defense is not keeping up with the growth in threats to the United States.

“There are numerous signs that the Pentagon’s budget is inadequate. Arms deliveries to embattled allies are lagging. Recruiting drives are falling short of goals despite loosened standards. Equipment maintenance is not keeping up with needs, while acquisition of new systems is not matching the pace of Chinese weapons production,” he wrote this week.