Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) says he won’t accept Democrats’ demand to give nondefense programs the same increases — dollar for dollar — as defense programs, which he said should be considered a much higher priority.
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, is also siding with McConnell.
The push comes as Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has insisted that nondefense and defense programs be increased in tandem — a sentiment being echoed by other Democrats.
“Agreement on parity has been part of keeping Congress functional for years now,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a prominent progressive.
“With supplemental budgets and various accounting complications, the military budget has often done better than the nonmilitary budget,” she said.
Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee were largely on the same page last year when it came to passing the annual appropriations bills.
That’s because they agreed a year ago to follow the top-line spending targets set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which essentially froze nondefense spending while increasing defense spending by 3.3 percent.
But Murray’s call for increasing defense and nondefense priorities in step with each other is falling flat with Republicans.
The Hill's Alex Bolton has more here.
