The bill, developed by the House and Senate Armed Services committees, includes nearly $25 billion earmarked for President Trump’s long-discussed Golden Dome missile defense initiative, a shield intended to protect the entire continental United States against advanced missiles.
When combined with the already approved $886 billion defense budget, the added dollars would bring defense spending to more than $1 trillion for the first time in U.S. history.
Republicans are pushing the $150 billion funding boost as part of the party’s sprawling package full of Trump’s domestic policy priorities. Republicans are planning to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the bill, which allows the party to circumvent Democratic opposition in the Senate.
The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to consider the legislation and hold a vote on advancing it — a gathering known as a markup — Tuesday at 10 a.m. EDT. The panel’s language will then be combined with different portions from other panels to create the party’s budget reconciliation bill.
House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) called the defense portion of the reconciliation bill “a historic investment” to restore U.S. military capabilities and strengthen national defense.
But Democrats have already begun to push back on what House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) called a “partisan budget reconciliation gimmick" that “will be paid for by devastating cuts that can only come from critical programs like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and student loan and grant programs at the Department of Education."
Also included in the bill are $33.7 billion for shipbuilding, $20.4 billion for munitions, $13.5 billion for “innovation,” $12.9 billion for nuclear deterrence, $11.5 billion for military readiness, $11.1 billion for Pacific deterrence, $7.2 billion for aircraft, $5 billion for border security, $4.5 billion for the B-21 bomber, $2 billion for military intelligence, and $380 million for the Pentagon’s annual audit.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
