By With Congress still trying to reach a fiscal year 2018 budget agreement, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has proposed legislation (H.J.Res. 124) to fully fund defense for the rest of the fiscal year.
The measure, introduced Dec. 13, would provide $664.1 billion for defense, or about $28.4 billion above the Trump administration’s request. The total includes the $658.2 billion that the House approved in July for base defense funding and overseas contingency operations (OCO), plus the $5.9 billion the Trump administration requested in a budget amendment in November to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles, repair damaged ships and increase troop levels in Afghanistan. 
The legislation would block automatic defense spending cuts that are slated to take effect in January under the Budget Control Act of 2011.
“Funding national defense is a top priority, especially in these uncertain times of instability around the globe,” Frelinghuysen said in a statement. “Our troops and commanders must have the resources they need right now to advance peace and our nation’s interests abroad.”
His proposal also would keep the rest of the federal government running at FY 2017 funding levels under a continuing resolution (CR) that would last until Jan. 19. The CR that currently funds the government expires Dec. 22.
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, welcomed the legislation, saying there is a “bipartisan consensus on the depth of our military’s readiness crisis and the resources required to begin to fix it.”
But the proposal’s fate in Congress is unclear, as Democrats have insisted that full defense funding not move forward without a similar arrangement for non-defense spending.
“Opponents of this bill argue that we should put our urgent national security needs on hold until we reach a similar consensus on a whole host of other domestic programs,” Thornberry said in a statement. “That is the approach we have taken for the past six years and the results are indisputable: the number of our troops killed in training accidents is increasing, our military capabilities are eroding, our enemies have become emboldened, and America is less secure. To continue to use defense funding as a political football in the face of these undisputed consequences is irresponsible.”
