Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) has said Congress might resort to a full-year continuing resolution if President Donald Trump fails to make a budget deal that contains enough funds for domestic spending, Defense News reported Sunday.
“It’s a real possibility unless we get the president’s understanding that you can’t necessarily cut everything else to pay for defense,” McCain was quoted as saying by Defense News.
“That will probably not get enough votes.”
Joe Gould writes House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) noted that defense spending should not be held “hostage†to domestic expenditures.
“You do not balance the budget by cutting defense,” Thornberry added.
He told reporters in an interview that he wants Congress to pass the fiscal 2017 defense appropriations bill “as soon as possible,†adding that “there is no reason in the world not to finish this year’s budget.â€
The report said armed services panels in the House and Senate have begun to draft their fiscal 2018 defense spending plans that would propose $640 billion in base budget, the report added.