During last year’s budget deal (The Bipartisan Budget Act or BBA), Republicans secured more defense spending in a compromise measure for a trade of more general spending and a suspension of the debt limit. But things have grown more complicated, as the Foreign Policy Initiative’s David Adesnik writes:
Disagreement over last November’s budget deal, formally known as the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA), is opening a new debate over defense spending between Congress and President Obama. In fiscal year 2017, the BBA allocated $59 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), a category of defense spending intended to support combat and related operations. Since November, a number of Republican leaders have insisted that this sum is a minimum, while the administration, however, seems to be treating this figure as a maximum. This disagreement is salient because both sides acknowledge that some portion of the OCO spending will be used to offset shortfalls in the Pentagon’s base budget, in addition to paying for the intensifying campaign against ISIS and the expansion of efforts to deter Russian aggression.
It’s not clear what the strategy of defense-minded Republicans will be in the coming months, with the impending presidential election. One thing is for certain, whoever wins the White House in November will have to play a key role where President Obama hasn’t.
Read Adesnik’s entire report here.
