Senate poised to pass US$700bil defence policy Bill

WASHINGTON: The Senate is poised to pass a defence policy Bill that pumps US$700bil (RM2.93 trillion) into the Pentagon budget, expands US missile defences in response to North Korea’s growing hostility and refuses to allow excess military bases to be closed.

The legislation is expected to be approved today by a wide margin in another burst of bipartisanship amid President Donald Trump’s push for cooperation with congressional Democrats.

The 1,215-page measure defies a number of White House objections, but Trump hasn’t threatened to veto the measure.

The Bill helps him honour a pledge to boost military spending by tens of billions of dollars.

Senator John McCain, the Armed Services Committee chairman who is also battling an aggressive type of brain cancer, has guided the Bill toward passage over the last week as he railed against Washington gridlock and political gamesmanship.

But McCain could not quell disputes among his colleagues over several contentious amendments that so far have been blocked from votes and failed to be added to the Bill.

Among them is a proposal by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat, New York) and Susan Collins (Republican, Maine) that would have protected transgender service members from being kicked out of the armed forces.

Another amendment from Senator Mike Lee (Republican, Utah) would prevent the government from detaining indefinitely US citizens apprehended on American soil who are suspected of supporting a terrorist group.

Approved by the Armed Services Committee by a vote of 27-0 in late June, the Senate Bill would provide US$640bil (RM2.68 trillion) for core Pentagon operations such as buying weapons and paying troops, and another US$60bil (RM251bil) for wartime missions abroad. — AP