House appropriations advances defense spending bill amid veto threat

The bill boosts the number of troops by 52,000 and uses about $18 billion from the war fund to cover base priorities, a funding move that mirrors the policy bill advanced by the House Armed Services Committee that has drawn criticism and a veto threat from the White House.

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., said during the full committee mark up that the bill is not a “gamble” as the administration has alleged.

“What was really gambling was the administration’s decision to pull troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan against the advice of military leadership and not anticipate that the resulting vacuum would be filled by ISIS, the Taliban and other terrorist groups,” the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee said. “It is gambling to believe that the American people would not pay close attention to increase U.S. military operations in Syria and Iraq if the president simply refused to call them combat operations.”

Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., and ranking member of the subcommittee, however, said he is “deeply troubled” by the bill’s funding mechanism, which would mean troops overseas run out of money in April.

This would put the responsibility on the next Congress and administration to pass a supplemental funding bill early next year to maintain U.S. operations overseas.

“It is not, from my perspective, the responsibility of the 115th Congress to finish a predetermined fraction of our work,” Visclosky said. “To assume there would be smooth sailing for a supplemental bill in spring of next year is problematic.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee does not use the $18 billion from the war chest for base operations, but Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he intends to ask for more money to increase readiness on the Senate floor. The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee has yet to release its mark.

It’s unclear how the two chambers will work out any differences between the bills in conference.