This
is what collapss empires – eventually.
Pie
Chart of USA's Discretionary Spending
In
an overwhelming 89-to-8 vote, the Senate has approved a defense
budget of $692 billion. The National Defense Authorization Act, which
passed the House on different terms, will go through a conference
committee before it is sent to President Donald Trump.
© U.S. Navy
In
comparison, the Trump administration asked for $603 billion for the
core activities and $65 billion for armed conflict and overseas
missions.
The
national defense bill also authorizes over $141 billion for military
personnel costs, including pay, benefits, bonuses and moving
expenses. It also provides a 2.1 percent pay increase for troops.
The
Senate bill further authorizes an additional $8.5 billion for the
Missile Defense Agency to strengthen homeland, regional and space
missile defense. The $8.5 billion is $630 million above the request
set forth by the Trump administration.
The
act, however, did fail to include an amendment supported by the White
House that would end automatic spending limits under the sequester
mechanism, according to CNBC.
More
than 300 amendments had been proposed. However, just one received a
roll call vote. Senator Rand Paul's (R-Kentucky) effort
to repeal the
2001 and 2002 authorizations for military force in Afghanistan and
Iraq was killed by senators from both parties.
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