The Senate on Tuesday will vote on a measure to limit the size of the Pentagon’s controversial war funding account, often referred to as a “gimmick” and a “slush fund” by critics.
Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the administration have argued for weeks that Republicans are trying to raise Defense Department spending by funneling money into the overseas contingency operations account, or OCO. That account was created to address war costs, but since it does not fall under sequester-related budget caps, lawmakers have moved about $38 billion in base funding into the OCO, almost doubling it to $89 billion.
Democrats say it’s not fair that defense spending has a way out of the sequester when domestic spending does not. On Tuesday at 3 p.m., senators will vote on an amendment to the 2016 defense authorization bill from Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., to cap the OCO at $51 billion.
For Democrats, it’s a way to make the case that the entire sequester — those automatic cuts that took hold under the Budget Control Act after the two parties failed to find any other alternative — needs to go for all agencies.
RELATED: Dems threaten to block defense bill over sequester
“For some time now, the president and all of our secretaries … have implored Congress to end the damaging effects of the Budget Control Act’s sequester and spending caps,” Reed said during Senate debate last week. “However, this bill, following the budget resolution, does not clearly address the BCA issue. Instead, it turns to this OCO fund.”
Republicans like John McCain, R-Ariz., admit that beefing up the OCO account isn’t perfect, but indicated last week that it’s an imperfection they’ll live with to help the military.
“It is not anybody’s preferred option that I know of,” McCain said. “I recognize that reliance on OCO spending limits the ability of the Department of Defense to plan and modernize our military.”
While most Democrats will likely vote for Reed’s language, and most Republicans will vote against it, the vote won’t be the final say on the matter. Even if the defense authorization bill makes it through Congress, Democrats have said they will make similar noise on the defense appropriations bill, which actually allocates money.
And President Obama has their backs: he’s promised to veto both defense-related bills, and every other spending bill, that doesn’t eliminate the sequester.
Last week, GOP aides said the fight could lead to a stalemate that forces both parties to find some new agreement on spending by the fall.
