House, Senate negotiators agree on $700 billion for Pentagon
WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators have agreed on an annual defence policy bill that authorizes $700 billion for the Pentagon in the 2018 fiscal year, a dramatic increase over the amount President Donald Trump sought as lawmakers aim to restock what they say is a depleted U.S. military.
The bill allots just over $634 billion for core Pentagon operations and nearly $66 billion for wartime missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, according to summaries of the legislation released Wednesday by the House and Senate Armed Services committees. The funding boost pays for more troops, jet fighters, ships and other weapons the bill’s backers said are needed to halt an erosion of the military’s combat readiness.
Trump’s 2018 request sought $603 billion for basic functions and $65 billion for overseas missions. Republican defence hawks in particular were surprised the president didn’t seek more given his bullish campaign talk about rebuilding the armed forces. But they kept their criticisms largely to themselves as they set about boosting the Pentagon’s budget to a level higher than at any point during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yet the lawmakers pushing the hardest for the big increase still face an uphill battle. For the billions of additional dollars to actually materialize, Congress first will have to agree to roll back a 2011 law that set strict limits on most federal spending. But that won’t be easy. Lifting the budget caps will face resistance from Democrats who also are seeking to increase the budgets for domestic agencies.