The US House of Representatives has passed a bill, increasingr the defence budget to above $800 billion next year. The US House authorised $37 billion in spending on top of the record $773 billion proposed by President Joe Biden.
The US House today passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy for the Pentagon, by a majority vote of 329-101.
The Senate has yet to pass its version, but the Senate Armed Services Committee has already backed an even larger increase, $45 billion, over Biden’s proposal.
The two chambers will decide the ultimate level when they meet in conference at a future date. Their compromise bill would come up for a vote in both chambers later in the year, TRT World reported today.
US Spending too much on military
The US Lawmakers also approved provisions to repeal the 2002 Iraq War authorisation and raise the troops’ pay by 4.6 percent. It would also put into law Biden’s executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour. The bill faced opposition from lawmakers who objected to increasing Pentagon spending.
“On the whole, the National Defense Authorization Act exemplifies the basic fact that we spend far too much on military-first solutions and far too little on diplomacy and on human needs at home and around the globe,” said Democratic Representative Andy Levin, a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who voted no.
