WASHINGTON \u2014 Bipartisan congressional negotiators have agreed to a sweeping $1.16 trillion omnibus spending bill for 2017, with $593 billion for the military. The deal, if passed, would fund the government through Sept. 30.
After funding the government at 2016 levels for more than half the fiscal year, Congress is expected to vote on a 2017 appropriations omnibus this week. The deal does not contain the border wall funding sought by President Donald Trump and opposed by Democrats, but it does contain $1.5 billion in border security funding.
Republicans, who control Congress and the White House, sought to avoid a government shutdown that could reflect poorly on them, which provided leverage to Democrats, whose votes will likely be needed.\u00a0Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., released a statement Sunday evening saying that the deal “is\u00a0a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal contains less than half the $30 billion defense supplemental Trump sought, but $19.9 billion more than in the last year of the Obama administration.
Adding in emergency funds, the Pentagon’s budget would total $598.5 billion for 2017, according to a House Appropriations Committee fact sheet.\u00a0
Defense sector analyst Roman Schweitzer, of Cowen and Co., called the deal “a walk-off home run in the 11th inning for defense,” but \u00a0predicted the 2018 budget cycle is likely to be “mired in gridlock until the very end.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
For defense, the bill contains $223 billion in operations and maintenance funding, $73.7 billion for research and development and $123.3 billion for equipment procurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill rejects end-strength cuts sought by the Obama administration and funds an added 3,000 Army soldiers and 1,000 active-duty Marines. There’s also a 2.1 percent pay raise, a half-percent higher than Obama requested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill contains $21.2 billion 13 Navy ships, including three DDG-51 guided missile destroyers, three littoral combat ships, one LPD-17 amphibious transport dock, and a down payment on future polar icebreaker procurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill funds 74 F-35 fighter jets at $8.2 billion, with $1.1 billion \u00a0for 14 F\/A-18E\/F Super Hornets\u2014a dozen more than requested. There’s also $2.6 billion for 15 KC-46 tanker aircraft and \u00a0$1.3 billion for 17 C-130J aircraft variants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
For the Army, it funds 62 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, 52 remanufactured and seven new AH-64 Apaches; 20 MQ-1 Gray Eagle unmanned aerial vehicles; 28 Lakota light utility helicopters, with $210 million for Humvee modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal means a partial government shutdown is unlikely. Government funding still expires on May 5, when a stopgap continuing resolution runs out, and lead appropriators are urging passage of the deal.
“It is time that we complete this essential work,” House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., said in a statement. “It is a solid bill that reflects our common values and that will help move our nation forward, and I urge its quick approval by the Congress and the White House.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lead Congressional appropriators have unveiled a sweeping $1.16 trillion omnibus spending bill for 2017, with $593 billion for the military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3216],"class_list":["post-84735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YUCQK6A6ANDXRHGA7PX7A7OPPI","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2017\/05\/01\/us-lawmakers-reach-2017-budget-deal-through-september\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n