Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
(Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the House FY-18 "minibus" appropriations bill has been passed.)
The House passed a fiscal year 2018 "minibus" appropriations measure 235-192 that includes $658 billion for national defense, though the topline exceeds the mandatory spending cap set by the 2011 Budget Control Act by $72 billion.
The bill would fund the Defense Department's base budget at $584 billion and its Overseas Contingency Operations account at $74 billion. The base budget funding is $68 billion above what was enacted in FY-17 and $18 billion more than what the Trump administration sought for FY-18.
The bill also includes a flexible $28.6 billion "National Defense Restoration Fund" that would allow the transfer of lump sums to the Pentagon. The fund would appropriate an additional $12 billion to procurement.
"After years of cuts, it's time to rebuild our military and restore combat readiness," House Appropriations defense subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) said in a statement.
"The defense spending bill we passed today provides funding for more troops, more equipment, and more training," she continued. "It provides Secretary Mattis with the resources he needs to address military readiness and also begin critical investments in increasing capabilities, lethality, and modernization."
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) urged the Senate to bring the legislation to President Trump's desk quickly, though Senate appropriators have said they plan to craft a bill that is $72 billion lighter on defense than their House counterparts.
"This bill will help guarantee that we are prepared to meet any threat from anyone or anywhere -- from China in the Pacific, to international terror groups like ISIS, al Qaeda, al Nusra, Al Shabab, Hezbollah and Hamas, to transnational drug smugglers and criminal gangs," he said.
Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee announced July 20 it is writing a defense spending bill that, unlike the House version, adheres to the BCA in the hopes of hashing out a bipartisan deal to raise the caps.
The Senate's bill would appropriate $513.1 billion in base funding and $82.1 billion in OCO for FY-18.
Original story:
The fiscal year 2018 defense appropriations bill is advancing through the House aboard a “minibus” measure that includes other spending legislation.
The chamber is scheduled to begin voting Thursday on 54 defense amendments.
Some highlights include: an amendment from Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) that would grant the Navy multiyear authority of up to 13 Virginia-class submarines (a similar measure is included in the House defense authorization bill); an amendment from Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) that would reduce the topline defense budget by 1 percent, excluding personnel spending; an amendment from Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) that would prohibit funding for testing and deployment of a space-based ballistic missile defense system; an amendment from Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) that would reduce the defense-wide operations and maintenance account by $30 million and realign the money to the Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which is manufactured by Oshkosh Defense.
The chamber will also vote on an amendment offered by Reps. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and Bill Shuster (R-PA) that would prohibit funding for a new round of base realignments and closures, or BRAC, that was included in the military construction and veterans affairs portion of the minibus.
The minibus also includes legislative branch and energy and water appropriations bill.
The bill would fund the Defense Department's base budget at $584 billion and its Overseas Contingency Operations account at $74 billion. The base budget funding is $68 billion above what was enacted in FY-17 and $18 billion more than what the Trump administration sought for FY-18.
Th bill includes a flexible $28.6 billion “National Defense Restoration Fund" that would allow the transfer of lump sums to the Pentagon. The fund would appropriate an additional $12 billion to procurement.
Amendments that would have removed all money from the restoration fund were voted down by the House Rules Committee.