
Senate Republicans’ proposed pandemic relief package includes $7 billion for new weapons procurement, ranging from F-35s to Army AH-64 Apache helicopters, drawing a sharp partisan divide on including such funds in the bill. Republicans defended the funds as a means for ensuring the Pentagon has resources to support the industrial base during the ongoing pandemic, while Democrats in both the Senate and House criticized the move as taking funds away from specific COVID-19-related measures. “With the virus continuing to spread,…