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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate plans to increase defense spending next year by about 3.4 percent and increase nondefense programs by 2.7 percent under a deal reached by top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee, setting up a certain clash with the House of Representatives, which seeks to reduce spending in both categories.
Under an agreement reached last year between President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, spending is set to increase by 1 percent for defense and non-defense programs in fiscal year 2025, bringing the total to about $780.4 billion for non-defense programs and $895.2 billion for defense.
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Some senators said the increase would not keep pace with inflation and would amount to cuts to many programs.
The bipartisan agreement unveiled by the Senate this week would provide $13.5 billion more in emergency funding for non-defense programs and $21 billion more for defense programs than the Biden-McCarthy deal provided.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are pursuing a more austere path, allowing a 1% increase for defense but deep cuts for non-defense, averaging about 6%, though some programs would be subject to much larger cuts and some GOP priorities would not be cut at all.
While some Republican senators have been calling for more defense spending, Democrats have insisted on similar treatment for non-defense programs.
“I have made it clear that we cannot fail to address the inadequate funding levels we face and that I will never leave behind critical non-defense needs,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Murray has been negotiating with Sen. Susan Collins, the committee’s ranking Republican, on discretionary spending for next year. That spending does not include mandatory spending on key entitlement programs, especially Social Security and Medicare, which account for about two-thirds of annual federal spending and do not require an annual vote by Congress.
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Collins said the United States faces one of the most dangerous security environments in the past 50 years, and that threats from Iran, Russia and China “must be met with the resolve to invest in a stronger national defense.”
“Under this agreement, additional funding will be provided to our military, coupled with efforts to stop the flow of fentanyl at our border, invest in vital medical research, and preserve affordable housing programs,” Collins said.
The Republican-controlled House has been moving more quickly on spending than the Senate. The House has passed four of the 12 annual spending bills so far, while the Senate has yet to pass a single one. However, the four House bills have drawn veto threats from the White House, drawn widespread Democratic opposition, and have no prospect of passage in the Senate in their current form.
That means a long-term battle, one that could last for months and will likely require one or more stopgap spending bills to keep the federal government fully open when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
With the election coming up and lawmakers spending a lot of time away from Washington, Congress is unlikely to pass final spending bills before the election. Final passage could be delayed until next year if one party wins the White House and both chambers of Congress.
The agreement reached by Senate Appropriations Committee leaders on spending comes as the panel prepares to debate the first of three spending measures on Thursday.
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