House marks up defense budget while Senate policy bill hits a snag

FIRST LOOK: HOUSE DEFENSE SPENDING: At noon a House Appropriations subcommittee will mark up the chamber’s 2019 defense spending bill. A draft text of the $675 billion appropriations legislation was unveiled yesterday, providing the first look at how and whether priorities already proposed in House and Senate authorization bills will be funded. House appropriators are already breaking with those bills and the Pentagon’s request by dramatically boosting purchases of F-35 joint strike fighters.

F-35 BOOST: The draft appropriations bill provides $9.4 billion for 93 of the high-tech Lockheed Martin aircraft, which is 16 more than the 77 requested by the military. In the two dueling versions of the National Defense Authorization Act, the House has authorized 77 F-35s while the Senate is weighing the purchase of 75 due to cost concerns about sustaining the aircraft. “With the changing global dynamics and ever-growing threats to our security, it is absolutely imperative that our military is properly trained, equipped, and fully supported in order to do their jobs,” Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, said in a statement.