The defense portion of President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for the 2016 fiscal year includes $1.4 billion to continue the research and development of a new ballistic missile submarine, led by Electric Boat, and continued funding to build two Virginia-class attack submarines a year.

With hopes of reversing sequestration cuts, Obama is proposing a $585 billion defense budget for 2016. The budget, as a whole, is more viewed as an outline of the president’s priorities given many of his proposals are not expected to receive support from the Republican-controlled Congress.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, indicated his support for “full restoration of sequester cuts to both domestic and military spending.”

Cost-saving proposals that could impact the defense budget include a request for a new round of Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, in fiscal year 2017.

“In my view, any threat to our base would be dead on arrival,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, said, adding that he’s “closely questioned” the Joint Chiefs of Staffs and others, and “there seems to be no threat to our base” in Groton.

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