MCCAIN’S POSITIVE THINKING: The big, anxious question for the Pentagon is what will happen in December when Congress runs headlong into another deadline for passing the annual defense budget. Will the military get the big spending hikes being considered in House and Senate, or the more modest but still substantial plus-up requested by President Trump? Or will lawmakers even punt yet again with a stopgap budget resolution if Capitol Hill negotiations crumble?
With uncertainty looming, Sen. John McCain told the Washington Examiner he is “guardedly optimistic” at the prospects of lifting a $549 billion Budget Control Act cap for fiscal 2018 and boosting defense spending. “We’ve been discussing and working and we have some agreements already and I believe we are on the path to getting the increase in defense spending,” McCain said.
