CRISIS AVERTED, CRISIS COMING: Late last night congressional negotiators hammered out a bipartisan compromise budget deal to keep the government funded through the rest of the fiscal year that ends Sept 30. Notably, the $1 trillion-plus package includes an additional $12.5 billion for the Pentagon and $1.5 billion more for border security, but in both cases the money falls short of President Trump’s request. Details of the defense portion of the agreement are here.
The $12.5 billion is less than half of the $30 billion that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said was the minimum needed to address the more urgent readiness shortfalls, and the new border-security money is earmarked only for technology investments and improvements to existing fencing and infrastructure. The military spending amounts to only $10 billion for readiness, with $2.5 billion to pay for the cost of wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. A vote on the compromise plan is expected this week, before a temporary funding measure runs out Friday.
