Leaders of the armed services committees are working on a $640 billion defense spending plan for fiscal 2018, which will include some of the priorities President-elect Trump touted on the campaign trail.
The funding included in the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act was $611.2 billion, including almost $60 billion in an account meant for overseas operations that is not subjected to budget caps. The goal now being worked would find $640 billion in base priorities with a yet-to-be-determined amount in the account for overseas operations. The base budget would therefore be roughly $90 billion more than the base budget of $551 billion from fiscal 2017.
The plan, which is being worked out by Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., his counterpart in the Senate, is expected to be released early next week
Under the Budget Control Act, the estimated cap on defense spending for fiscal 2018 would be about $550 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office report from August. That number does not include any OCO spending.
Trump was vocal on the campaign trail about the need to boost defense spending to cover things such as building toward a 350-ship Navy fleet and a larger active-duty Army, two things the source said will be funded by the authorization plan.
It’s unclear if the plan will gain traction on Capitol Hill. The Budget Control Act caps are set to come back in full force in fiscal 2018, and Democrats have previously been unwilling to increase defense spending without a comparable increase for non-defense.
Still, some experts have predicted that Congress may be willing now to repeal the Budget Control Act, both because of Trump’s stated focus on the issue and because of growing threats around the world facing the U.S. that require the military to be more ready.
NOTE: A previous version of this story misstated that the budget plan included overseas contingency funding.
