FREE STORY: Budget battle consumes defense bill

Just eight months ago, the Pentagon was planning for two defense budgets -- and both were lower than the $750 billion now being advocated by congressional Republicans.

Now, Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate are at odds over whether the Pentagon needs that amount for fiscal year 2020 or could make do with $733 billion -- the topline the Defense Department originally sought.

Meanwhile, the spending battle that has enveloped the FY-20 defense budget threatens to stall Congress' must-pass defense authorization bill. The debate has also politicized the findings of a bipartisan strategy commission and has called into question how the Pentagon justifies its need for more money.

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