Natalie Johnson of the Washington Free Beacon highlights U.S. House Republicans’ proposal to ramp up military spending.
The Republican-led House released its budget blueprint Tuesday that calls for a steep increase to military spending that would break caps imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act and require GOP members to coalesce with Democrats to lift the limits.
The resolution, put forth by the House Budget Committee, would authorize $621.5 billion in defense spending—$72.5 billion higher than the $549 billion limit dictated by the BCA. To pass the budget as is, lawmakers have to either permanently repeal the BCA or temporarily increase the caps for fiscal year 2018. Any change would require support from Democrats.
“The way that I look at this process is there’s two big things we have to do,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) told the Washington Free Beacon. “One of them is get the resources the Pentagon needs this year, which we’ll do through the authorizing legislation and through the appropriations process. But equally, and maybe more important, is we have to repeal the Budget Control Act.” …
… Senior defense officials have blamed the BCA for eroding America’s military edge over adversaries, particularly as the forces face ongoing readiness and modernization challenges. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis went as far as to blame the caps for inflicting more harm on the military’s combat readiness than any foreign enemy.