Trump presidency improves prospects for base closures.

Lawmakers have repeatedly refused to authorize another round of U.S. military base realignment and closure, known as BRAC, despite pleas from Pentagon leaders. But that could change now that President Donald Trump is in office, according to defense analysts.

Pentagon officials estimate that another round of BRAC--which last occurred in 2005--would save $2 billion annually. That money could be reinvested to address military readiness shortfalls, noted Kurt Couchman, vice president of public policy at Defense Priorities, a national-security focused advocacy group.

"The new president I think is the main reason for optimism," he said at a conference on Capitol Hill. "There was a lot of distrust for President Obama [among Republican lawmakers]. There was a lot of concern about his... commitment to a strong national defense--whether or not that was justified, there was a lot of concern there.

"There isn't that level of concern with President Trump," he continued.

GOP members of Congress are now more likely to have confidence that any savings from BRAC would be reinvested in other military priorities, Couchman suggested. "With [Secretary of Defense James] Mattis in the driver seat of this whole process, I think people could be assured that he is going to put the readiness and capabilities of the armed forces above everything else."

Christopher Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute...