House defies veto threat, passes defense spending bill

[Valin]

Washington Examiner:

Charles Hoskinson

June 11, 2015

 

 

House lawmakers defied a White House veto threat and passed a defense appropriations bill for fiscal 2016 that uses a war funding account to bypass mandatory budget cuts for military operations and maintenance costs.

 

The vote was 278-149, with only five Republican budget hawks joining most Democrats in opposing the bill, which allots $578.6 billion for the Pentagon and nuclear weapons programs of the Energy Department, an increase of $24.4 billion from fiscal 2015 and $800 million more than President Obama requested. It includes $88.4 billion in overseas contingency operations, roughly double the amount Obama requested.

 

The White House late Tuesday said Obama would veto the bill if it includes a provision shifting regular spending into the war funding account, which is exempt from sequestration requirements. Democrats have called the funding shift a "gimmick."

 

Obama and both Republican and Democratic leaders all have called for an end to sequestration, which was enacted as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011. Military leaders have repeatedly complained that it's causing a crisis in defense readiness as the gap between what the armed forces are being asked to do and Pentagon funding grows.

 

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[Valin]

Also

 

House rejects measure to force vote on Islamic State fight

WASHINGTON | By Patricia Zengerle

Thu Jun 11, 2015

 

The House of Representatives rejected an amendment to a defense bill on Thursday that would have forced lawmakers to vote on a formal authorization for the use of military force against Islamic State.

 

The House voted 231 to 196 to defeat the amendment sponsored by Representative Adam Schiff. Republicans, who control a majority of seats in the House, largely voted against the amendment and Schiff's fellow Democrats generally backed it.

 

The vote took place a day after President Barack Obama ordered the deployment of 450 additional U.S. troops to Iraq to advise and assist Iraqi forces seeking to retake territory lost to Islamic State.

 

The amendment would have required Congress to debate and vote on a new authorization by March 31, 2016, prohibiting funds in next year's defense appropriations bill to be used for the campaign of air strikes against Islamic State until Congress passed an authorization.

 

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