Courtney: Budget caps will likely be lifted for fiscal years 2020 and 2021

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), who is expected to serve as the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee chairman in the new Congress, said Wednesday he expects budget caps on defense spending to be lifted for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.

"It was intended to be an incentive, not to be a policy," Courtney told the annual Surface Navy Association symposium, referring to the 2011 Budget Control Act, which restricts defense spending.

Courtney praised House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) as "pragmatic," adding he believes Yarmuth will lift the caps as he assumes his new gavel.

"His approach is going to be to recognize that there's going to have to be a lifting of the caps," Courtney said.

But the Connecticut congressman noted Democrats' recent takeover of the lower chamber means "discretionary domestic spending has to be part of that process."

Courtney said whether the caps will be lifted in "a timely fashion" remains to be seen, citing the ongoing partial government shutdown.