The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Thursday that he will seek an additional $18 billion to spend on defense in fiscal 2017 when the annual defense policy bill is considered on the Senate floor next week.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he will offer an amendment to increase defense spending above the current caps, bringing the Senate bill’s funding level in line with the House plan.
“When the legislation comes to the floor next week, I will offer an amendment to increase defense spending above the current spending caps, reverse short-sighted cuts to modernization, restore military readiness and give our servicemembers the support they need and deserve,” McCain said at the Brookings Institution.
“I do not know whether or not this amendment will succeed. But the Senate must have this debate. And senators must choose a side.”
Pushed on if he will seek the extra money in base or the overseas contingency operations accounts, McCain said simply that he would “seek an increase in authorized funding.”
McCain said one thing he hopes to do if he’s able to secure the increased funding is to stop the Army end strength cuts.
The House version of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which passed late Wednesday night, moves $18 billion from the overseas contingency operations to the base budget to pay for services’ unfunded priorities not included in the president’s budget request.
As a result, under the House plan, the U.S. will run out of money for overseas operations in April, leaving it up to the next administration and Congress to pass a supplemental funding bill soon after taking office to keep up overseas military missions.
“My friends in the House and I share the same goal of restoring these arbitrary cuts to military capability and capacity. The House has adopted one approach. The Senate has adopted a different path to reach the same objective,” McCain said.
The White House has threatened a veto of the House’s legislation, both due to the funding mechanism and a number of provisions in the bill, including language that extends prohibitions on closing Guantanamo Bay.
It’s not clear if congressional Democrats will approve of an increase in defense spending without a comparable boost in domestic spending, which they say is also critical to keeping the country safe.
McCain said he would like to see non-defense organizations that contribute to national security, such as the CIA, also receive increased funding.
