Obama Budget Proposes 7% More in Spending Above Sequestration Caps

President’s Budget Asks for $561 Billion in Defense, $530 Billion in Nondefense Discretionary Spending

President Barack Obama will propose government spending that is 7%—or $74 billion—over caps he and congressional Republicans agreed to in a bipartisan deficit-reduction deal over three years ago, a White House official said Thursday.

Mr. Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget, due to be released Monday, will propose some $561 billion in defense spending and $530 billion in nondefense spending, the official said.

The amounts exceed the levels set under the 2011 budget law by $38 billion for defense and $37 billion for nondefense, the official said.

Mr. Obama is pointing to recent economic growth and national-security threats as justifications to exceed the caps, which he and congressional Republicans agreed to in the wake of a market-rattling fiscal fight over increasing the government’s borrowing limit.

The president on Thursday began his sales pitch for the plan by outlining his proposals to those most likely to support it.

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