The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to authorize military end-strength levels below the Trump administration's fiscal year 2019 request to insulate the Pentagon's modernization accounts from the potential return of spending caps in FY-20, according to staffers who briefed reporters May 25 on the committee's defense authorization bill. The bill authorizes the Navy to grow to 331,900 active-duty sailors, fewer than the 335,400 the service requested. The Army would reach 485,741 active-duty troops, though the service requested 487,500. The Air...
