Thursday, March 19, 2015

Senate GOP Budget Sticks to Spending Caps

Senate GOP Budget Sticks to Spending Caps: Senate Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a 2016 budget blueprint that contains a defense plan in stark contrast with a proposal crafted by their House counterparts.

The GOP-run Senate Budget Committee's spending resolution would keep the military's base funding at existing budget caps. That means congressional defense authorizers and appropriators would have $499 billion to work with.

The Senate panel also is proposing $58 billion for the overseas contingency operations (OCO) fund, a controversial war-funding account many in Washington consider something of a "slush fund."

"We hope the committees will pursue a legislative agenda consistent with this budget resolution," a Republican Budget Committee aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters Wednesday.