In a 266-167 vote, House on Wednesday evening approved the Bipartisan Budget Deal, which raises spending limits imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 for two years as well as the debt ceiling.
Democrats were united in their show of support for the bill, with no members voting against it, while Republicans were split with 79 for and 167 against the bill.
For defense, the bill—H.R. 1314—would allow the military to keep most of the funding requested in the president’s $612 billion budget. Perhaps more importantly, it gives the Pentagon two years of stable budgets and will likely prevent Congress from passing a yearlong continuing resolution, which service leaders said would be worse than sequestration.
The agreement would set aside $607 billion for defense this fiscal year, increasing the BCA spending caps for defense by about $25 billion in fiscal year 2016 and $15 billion in fiscal year 2017. It also boosts wartime spending to about $59 billion for each year.
The agreement was brokered in part by outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and was his attempt to “clean out the barn” before his likely successor, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), takes the reins. Boehner is slated to leave the House this week following the election of a new speaker tomorrow.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said his committee is ready to implement the deal, “going line by line through budgets and making the tough but necessary decisions to fund the entire government in a responsible way,” and will start work with Senate counterpart as soon as the bill is signed. It will have until Dec. 11, when the current continuing resolution ends.
“We have our eye on the Dec. 11 deadline and it is my goal to complete our appropriations work ahead of that date to avoid any more delays, continuing resolutions or showdowns that hurt important federal programs,” he said on the House floor.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said the bill would keep the president from using the defense budget as leverage for political goals in fiscal year 2017.
“If we do not approve this budget, then what? Then we are back to continuing resolutions and to sequester,” he said. “Which means, for example, the Army has said they will have to cut another 40,000 troops out of the ranks on top of the 70,000 they have already cut.”
Opponents of the deal criticized it for compounding the national debt and raising the BCA caps.
“As draconian as they are, they’re the only piece of financial restraint in Washington, D.C.,” said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.)
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said he would vote against it because of how the budget increases are paid for, such as pension smoothing and selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Before the vote, the Office of Management and Budget released a statement of administration policy urging Congress to pass the bill.
“The legislation would provide two years of significant relief from sequestration for both defense and non-defense priorities, helping to grow the economy and build middle class economic security by investing in education, job training and research while keeping America safe,” it stated.
The Senate will have less than a week to vote on the bill before the debt limit expires on Nov. 3.