After an exhausting 18 hours of debate, the House Armed Services Committee early Thursday morning approved a $611.8 billion defense authorization bill that preserved funding levels requested by the military in the president’s fiscal year 2016 budget.The National Defense Authorization Act recommends a $495 billion Pentagon base budget that remains below congressionally mandated caps set in the Budget Control Act of 2011. However, to make the investments in procurement, personnel and research and development laid out in the president’s request,…
