WASHINGTON: The US Senate passed its version of a $700 billion defence policy bill on Monday, backing President Donald Trump’s call for a bigger, stronger military but setting the stage for a battle over government spending levels later this year.
The Republican-controlled chamber voted 89-8 for the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2018, or NDAA, which authorizes the level of defence spending and sets policies controlling how the money is spent.
The Senate bill provides about $640 billion for the Pentagon’s main operations, such as buying weapons and paying the troops, and some $60 billion to fund the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.
The 1,215-page bill includes a wide range of provisions, such as a 2.1 percent military pay raise and $8.5 billion to strengthen missile defence, as North Korea conducts nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests. It also bans Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs products from federal government use.
