The US House of Representatives yesterday passed a 700 billion dollars defence policy bill, backing President Donald Trump’s call for a bigger, stronger military. The Republican-controlled House voted 356-70 for the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which authorizes the level of defence spending and sets policies controlling how the money is spent.
But the legislation defies spending caps set in the 2011 Budget Control Act and there is no clear plan from Congress on how to provide the money for the Pentagon. The 2018 NDAA authorizes 634 billion dollars in base defence spending, for such things as buying weapons and paying the troops, well above the 549 billion dollars allowed under the previous legislation.
The NDAA also includes provisions such as an increase in active troop levels by more than 16,000 and states that climate change is a national security threat.
The defence policy bill will become law if it passes the Republican-controlled Senate and is signed into law by the president.
