The House Appropriations Committee moved forward its $578.6 billion defense appropriations bill today, beating back a Democratic amendment that would reverse a boost to wartime spending that allows Republicans to sidestep congressionally-mandated spending caps.The bill includes $490 billion in base spending and $88 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations funds, an increase of $38 billion over the president’s budget request. That extra money is used to fund the budget at the levels recommended in the president’s budget, which exceeded caps set…
