A $649 billion defence spending bill for next year easily passed the US House of Representatives on Friday after four days of debate in which war-weary lawmakers sought to curb President Barack Obama’s combat operations in Afghanistan and Libya.
The measure, approved 336-87 in the Republican-dominated House, would raise the Pentagon’s base budget for the 2012 fiscal year beginning on October 1 by about $17 billion over current levels, despite intense pressure to slash the $1.4 trillion US deficit.
The House cut about $8 billion from Obama’s overall defence spending request, voting to provide about $530 billion for the Pentagon’s primary budget and another $119 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
