The House Defense Appropriations subcommittee advanced its $690.2 billion fiscal 2020 defense bill to the full Appropriations Committee Wednesday, CQ reported.
The legislation, approved in a closed-door markup session, is now expected to be reviewed by the full appropriations panel next week. The Democrat-led committee will consider $622.1 billion for DOD’s base budget and $68.1 billion for uncapped overseas contingency accounts.
The bill sharply reduces President Donald Trump’s request for $9.5 billion in contingency Pentagon accounts to $1.5 billion and would block DOD funding for a border barrier, according to The Hill.
If approved, House defense allocations would increase nearly $16 billion over 2019 levels.
The House levels are less than the White House’s fiscal 2020 defense request by $8 billion, not including military construction funds which are allocated in a separate appropriations bill.
Final fiscal 2020 topline funding will be determined this summer in House-Senate negotiations under an October deadline to strike a comprehensive budget deal and avoid current budget caps.
“Until we get a final deal at the top level these are all imaginary numbers,” Senate Appropriations Committee member Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said.
The two bodies are expected to have major differences on topline spending, with Senate Republicans seeking the White House’s requested levels while House Progressive Caucus members want less fiscal 2020 defense spending than the leadership supports.