House Republicans are pushing a budget proposal that would dramatically increase military spending far above caps set in the 2011 Budget Control Act.
The House Budget Committee released its resolution that would authorize a $621.5 billion for defense spending, $72.5 billion more than the $549 billion limit. Legislators will therefore have to either repeal the BCA or approve a temporary increase to the caps, either of which would require Democratic support.
"The way that I look at this process is there's two big things we have to do," Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., told The Washington Free Beacon. "One of them is get the resources the Pentagon needs this year, which we'll do through the authorizing legislation and through the appropriations process. But equally, and maybe more important, is we have to repeal the Budget Control Act."
Cheney and Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., have both called for a total repeal of the BCA, with the latter telling the Free Beacon that he hopes both parties can see that "defense spending is too important and too sacred to be held hostage to a partisan political fight."
Cheney added, "The reality is that none of the other programs or activities the government engages in will matter if we don't get the defense piece of this right. Across the aisle, people understand now more than ever that the BCA didn't do what it was supposed to do. It hasn't had an impact on the debt, but it's strangled the Defense Department."
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