The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday unveiled a $700 billion proposed defense budget for 2018, joining the House in proposing a boost in spending above President Trump’s proposal.
The spending in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act includes the $640 billion for total baseline defense spending that Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had advocated for months, as well as $60 billion for overseas military operations, according to a summary released by the committee. The report is a result of the markups conducted this week, and then heads to the full Senate for a vote.
The Senate NDAA calls for:
- 13 Navy ships, an increase of five over the president’s plans. Those include a third Arleigh Burke-class destroyer; one amphibious ship replacement or one amphibious transport dock; one expeditionary sea base; one cable ship; and money for advanced procurement of Virginia-class submarines.
- 94 F-35 Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighters, 24 more than Trump’s budget
- 24 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets, an increase of 10
- 13 Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, an increase of six over the administration’s request.
The bill also calls for 15,000 soldiers and 1,000 Marines over the president’s plans for 2018.
“The NDAA starts the process of rebuilding our military after six years of devastating cuts to our defense budget,” McCain said in a released statement. “By supporting $640 billion for defense, this legislation begins to address the readiness shortfall, crisis in modernization, and eroding military advantage by recapitalizing and reinvesting in our forces.”
The House Armed Services Committee released a proposed NDAA bill this week that calls for $631 billion in base funding and $65 billion for the war fund called Overseas Contingency Operations that would also pay for more aircraft, shifts and troops than what is called for in Trump’s budget request. The House topline is $4 billion less than the Senate’s version.
The baseline proposed by the Trump administration is $603 billion. All three proposals — Trump, House Armed Services and Senate Armed Services — are well north of the spending cap of $549 billion, meaning negotiators will need to strike a deal with Democrats in order to go past the caps.
