The House on Wednesday passed the fiscal 2017 defense spending bill, but it’s not clear if Democrats in the Senate will continue to block the bill over complaints that Republicans aren’t planning to move spending bills covering social programs.
The appropriations bill passed 371-48. A similar bill passed the House by a 282-138 vote last Congress, but stalled in the Senate.
The bill’s top line of $577.9 billion includes about $516 billion in base funding and an additional $61.8 billion in the overseas contingency operations account. That account is supposed to pay for missions abroad, but critics say it has become a slush fund since it’s not subject to Budget Control Act caps.
Coupled with the $5.8 billion supplemental funding request that was passed in the most recent continuing resolution, it would bring total discretionary spending for defense to $583.7 billion in fiscal 2017, the same level as in that year’s National Defense Authorization Act.
This version of the appropriations bill also includes almost $900 million more for shipbuilding than was in last year’s iteration of the bill.
Six programs would see increases compared to the last version of the bill. Some of the biggest increases are for the new class of Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers, which would get $403.5 million more under the new bill, and the replacement for the amphibious assault ship, which would get $178.5 million more.
Two programs saw decreases. The carrier replacement account and funding for advanced procurement for aircraft carrier refueling will each get about $15 million less.
After passing the House last year, the defense appropriations bill stalled in the Senate, where Democrats refused to support the defense bill unless the Republican-led chamber began considering non-defense funding bills. Because of the gridlock, Congress was forced to pass multiple continuing resolutions, the last of which will expire on April 28.
