$578B Pentagon spending bill sought

Proposal would fund armed forces through September.

WASHINGTON — A House panel unveiled a $578 billion spending bill to keep the U.S. armed forces operating through September as President Donald Trump has vowed to add billions more for what he’s described as a depleted American military.

The legislation proposed by the Appropriations Committee on Thursday tracks the funding levels for Pentagon procurement, operation and maintenance, and research and development programs authorized by the annual defense policy bill that former President Barack Obama signed into law in December. The full House is scheduled to meet next week to consider the defense spending bill for the 2017 fiscal year.

Trump is expected to deliver to Congress in the next few weeks a supplement to the 2017 spending bill that would boost the total by as much as $30 billion. For the 2018 budget year, which begins Oct. 1, Trump is seeking a $54 billion increase in the Pentagon’s budget.

The Pentagon and other federal agencies are currently running under a stopgap spending bill that expires April 28. Congress approved the temporary measure to avoid a government shutdown late last year.

The committee’s 2017 defense bill includes $516 billion for basic requirements, which covers everything from the purchase of bombs and bullets to troop training. Nearly $62 billion is included in the bill to pay for ongoing military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

The defense authorization bill signed by Obama totaled $611 billion, while the appropriations package is roughly $33 billion less because the defense spending bill doesn’t include money for military construction and nuclear weapons research. Those programs are included in separate appropriations legislation.

“From radical Islamic terrorism to resurgent adversaries testing American leadership and resolve, we must ensure we have the strongest, most effective military to keep us safe,” Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, the chairwoman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said in a statement about the 2017 bill.