Senate appropriators OK clean Defense, leg branch bills
Measures clear the panel along party lines, with Republicans withholding support amid concerns about discretionary spending levels.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted Thursday along party lines to approve the Defense and Legislative Branch spending bills, leaving the Interior Appropriations bill as the only fiscal 2011 measure still awaiting a committee markup.
Senators made no moves to amend either bill, aside from a managers' package of amendments that made uncontroversial changes to the $669.9 billion defense measure. The bills cleared the panel by a single 18-12 vote.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, earlier this week left the door open to an amendment that would add funding for an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But no senators offered any language on the engine, a program the White House strongly opposes and wants to terminate.
Despite the lack of debate during the brief markup, Republicans made good on their threats to vote against appropriations bills amid concerns over discretionary spending levels.
The Defense Appropriations bill is $11.2 billion more than the total amount enacted for this fiscal year but $8.1 billion below the administration's base-budget request. The top line includes $157.7 billion for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, matching the administration's request for the wars.
Meanwhile, the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill includes $3.1 billion, matching the budget enacted for this fiscal year but falling $436 million below the requested level for fiscal 2011.
The spending bill includes $926 million for the Senate, $556 million for the Government Accountability Office, $643 million for the Library of Congress and $147 million for the Government Printing Office -- all matching fiscal 2011 levels but falling below the request.
"Our branch is not exempt from cuts," Inouye said.