$30 BILLION BUDGET BOOST: The U.S. military’s “Number 2s” are expected to cite sequestration as their Number 1 concern, when they testify before the House Armed Services Committee this morning. It’s the vice chiefs’ turn to lay out the state of America’s military, which President Trump has promised to rebuild, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is assembling an ambitious plan to pump billions more into defense spending. The Associated Press says it’s seen informal proposals circulating on Capitol Hill that call for more than $30 billion to acquire new jet fighters, armored vehicles, improved training and more as a supplemental to the fiscal 2017 budget.

Today’s witnesses are Army Gen. Daniel Allyn, Adm. William Moran, Marine Gen. Glenn Walters, and Air Force Gen. Stephen Wilson. The vice chiefs are expected to presented a united front in calling for an end to the mandatory spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011, known as sequestration, which have eroded military readiness. Among the items on the list: Lockheed Martin F-35s; Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets, CH-47F Chinooks and AH-64 Apache helicopters; General Atomics Gray Eagle drones; one Huntington Ingalls San Antonio-class amphibious ship; and Raytheon Sidewinder missiles.