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White House requests $38 billion more in Ukraine aid
If Congress passes the request, it would bring the Ukraine aid total to more than $100 billion since March amid growing House Republican resistance.
Wyoming troop deaths 20 years apart bookend Afghanistan war
Edmunds and McCollum were both killed on their first deployments. In between, almost 2,500 U.S. troops died in the Afghanistan war.
By Thomas Peipert
Defense top line ‘will probably go up’: Key Dems see GOP boost as path to a deal
“The people who want to spend more than the Biden number have built a lot of support, and yes, I think that is a potential bipartisan pathway,” says House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith. “I don’t support it, I don’t think that’s where we should go, but at the end of the day, I have one vote.”
By Joe Gould
Proposal to guarantee minimum-wage salaries for all troops fizzles
House leadership promised to look into the idea of at least $15 an hour in base pay for every service member.
House appropriators advance $706 billion defense spending bill
The House Appropriations Committee has approved a $706 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2022 over the objections of panel Republicans.
By Joe Gould
Lawmakers champion China deterrence fund, but not Biden’s version
Fifteen House lawmakers are calling on appropriators to fully fund a $4.7 billion request for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative amid criticism President Joe Biden’s new defense budget submission has missed the mark.
By Joe Gould
Pentagon budget will shake up ‘legacy’ systems. Lawmakers are shaking back.
Top Pentagon officials are asking Congress to let them use the upcoming budget to shed unneeded weapons in order to invest in forward-looking technologies now. It wasn't an easy conversation.
By Joe Gould
Bernie Sanders unveils resolution to stop $735M arms sale to Israel
The senator has introduced a resolution that would, if passed, block the pending sale of $735 million in arms to Israel amid its widening fight with Hamas.
By Joe Gould
Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not
Leaders worry that troops who suffer injuries before and after active-duty don't have medical coverage they need.
How Republicans might accept a smaller defense budget
Republican Rep. Ken Calvert is willing to meet Democratic lawmakers partway in their reported plans to trim the defense budget: cut back on civilian employees, not equipment and modernization.
By Joe Gould
Service surgeons general voice concern about military health care reforms
During a hearing of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, top military medical officers warned of Defense Health Agency growing pains.
By Patricia Kime