WASHINGTON — The bipartisan, $1.1 trillion government-wide spending bill finances agency operations through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The bill has been endorsed by the White House, top congressional Democrats, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. It provides President Donald Trump with an increase in the Pentagon budget but denies his request for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The measure also ignores numerous Trump recommendations to significantly cut or eliminate domestic programs.
Highlights of the 1,665-page measure include:
DEFENSE and FOREIGN POLICY
• $593 billion for the military, including $15 billion of Trump’s $30 billion emergency request from earlier this year. All told, the Pentagon would receive a $26 billion increase over last year, a 4 percent increase. Troops would receive a 2.1 percent pay hike instead of the 1.6 percent recommended by former President Barack Obama. There is $21 billion to procure 13 Navy ships and $8.2 billion for 74 F-35 aircraft, as well as $85 million in emergency money for Tomahawk missiles to replace those fired in the U.S. strike on Syria last month.
• $53.1 billion for foreign aid and State Department diplomacy, a $400 million increase that runs counter the administration’s vow to slash foreign assistance. Increases include nearly $1 billion in famine relief to combat starvation in Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. Almost $7 billion is for humanitarian programs that assist refugees and others displaced by conflict. Another $100 million would counter Russian influence in Europe and South and Central Asia. The plan does follow through on the administration’s pledge to cancel climate change funding and contains no money for the Green Climate Fund, which assists developing nations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Funding for U.N. agencies is cut by $640 million from current levels.
DOMESTIC SPENDING
• $1.3 billion to extend health benefits to more than 22,000 retired coal miners and their families, a top priority for coal country lawmakers such as Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The miners were threatened with the loss of benefits after industry bankruptcies.