Obama playing politics with US defense: Armed Services chief
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry says President Barack Obama is playing politics by threatening to veto a military spending bill.
Obama has threatened to use executive power on the $612 billion 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed overwhelmingly in the House last week and has majority support in the Senate.
In a 269-151 vote on May 15, Republicans overwhelmingly passed the bill that Democrats believe would break budget limits on military spending.
The bill authorizes $523 billion in base Defense Department spending and $90 billion is included in the war fund, formally known as the Overseas Contingency Operations fund.
“The House bill authorized exactly the amount the president requested to keep America safe,” Thornberry (R-Texas) said on Saturday, according to The Hill. “But he wants more money for domestic programs and he has threatened to veto the defense bill unless he gets it.”
“Look, we’re always going to have our differences, but it’s wrong for anyone to play politics with defense,” he said.
Thornberry claimed the budget would be directed toward protecting lives of American troops fighting in wars overseas.
“The world is too dangerous, and the men and women who serve are too precious for that,” he added.
Democrats argue that Republicans circumvented the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration that began in 2013. They assert that any increase in military spending is unacceptable unless budgets for other programs increase as well.
“This desperate attempt to get around the budget caps put in place by Congress will have a significant negative effect on our military,” said Representative Adam Smith of Washington State, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
AT/HRJ
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