By The full U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up its version of the fiscal year 2019 defense appropriations bill the week of June 25-29.
The debate on the $674.6-billion measure will likely occur June 27, according to a spokeswoman for the House Appropriations Committee (HAC). 
The House Rules Committee has set a deadline of June 21 at 10 a.m. for lawmakers to submit amendments for possible floor consideration.
One potential amendment already submitted by Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) would steer $10 million to developing technologies to counter the smuggling of nuclear weapons and materials.
The bill, which the HAC approved June 13 (Defense Daily, June 13), would buy 93 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, 16 more than the Department of Defense requested, and procure three Littoral Combat Ships, two more than the Navy sought. It adds $623 million to the Air Force request to continue a program to replace the aging E-8C JSTARS ground-surveillance plane.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up its version of the bill the week of June 25-29.
At a White House meeting with lawmakers June 20, President Trump urged Congress to pass its FY 2019 appropriations bills individually to avoid another omnibus appropriations bill.
“Please, that would be very nice,” he said.
When Trump signed the $1.3-trillion FY 2018 omnibus appropriations bill into law in March, he expressed misgivings about several non-defense aspects of the legislation and vowed to oppose another omnibus (Defense Daily, March 23).
