By The U.S. Senate approved its version of the fiscal year 2018 defense authorization bill by an 89-8 vote late Sept. 18, sending the legislation to a conference committee with the House, which passed its bill in July.
Conferees have a host of issues to resolve, including what to do about a House provision that would set up a space corps in the Air Force Department. The Senate bill would block that proposal.
The Senate bill would authorize $632 billion in base budget funding, including $10.6 billion to buy 94 Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, 24 more jets than the Trump administration’s request. The House bill would provide 87 F-35s.
