Congress passes funding bill with major cash infusion for Pentagon
By Bryant Harris
Dec 23, 02:07 PM
WASHINGTON — Congress on Friday passed a spending bill to fund the government and avoid a shutdown as part of a deal that includes a significant cash influx for the Defense Department with a 9% budget increase over fiscal 2022 levels on top of billions in additional aid for Ukraine.
The House on Friday voted 225-201 to pass the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill after the Senate did the same 68-29 on Thursday. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation, which includes $817 billion for the FY23 Pentagon budget as well as another $27.9 billion for the Defense Department to continue its effort to support Ukraine. This marks a significant increase over the $773 billion in defense spending Biden asked for as part of his budget proposal earlier this year.
“The world’s greatest military will get the funding increase that it needs, outpacing inflation,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday. “This is a debate about American security, American servicemembers, and American interests on the world stage.”
The agreement contains $8 billion specifically allocated to help the Pentagon cope with the impact of inflation, including $1 billion in acquisition-related costs and $3.7 billion for fuel. Republicans and some centrist Democrats have hammered the Biden administration for underestimating the inflation rate in its budget proposal.
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/budget/2022/12/23/congress-passes-funding-bill-with-major-cash-infusion-for-pentagon/
