Senate panel approves 2014 defense spending bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate panel on Tuesday approved a defense spending bill for the 2014 fiscal year that seeks to reverse the most severe impacts of the across-the-board budget cuts on the armed forces by adding nearly $4.5 billion to cover shortfalls in military training and equipment maintenance programs.

But Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, said that the cuts, known as sequestration, have to be stopped because they are forcing Congress to play “whack-a-mole” with the defense budget. For every program that receives a funding boost, another program takes a cut, Durbin said.