Exactly. It was one of the first lessons I got as a new 2Lt in the program office 45 years ago. The AF (and other services) have to submit a budget to the White House that does not exceed a target set by the WH. When you add up everything on the wish list, it’s more than the target. So you have to take some stuff out. If you take out something without a lot of support in Congress, you’ll never get it. If you take out something you know Congress will force back into the budget, they just might do that without cutting something else (they’re not bound by the WH targets.) Those programs that always get funded are called ‘gold watches’. So there’s a chance you get your lower priority programs and the gold watches funded. The goal is to get as many of your programs funded as possible.