HASC Approves Massive DoD Policy Bill

WASHINGTON — The House Armed Services Committee early Thursday voted to add billions to a list of Defense Department weapon programs from cuts, and signed off on a $495.9 billion base Pentagon budget and an $89.2 billion war account.

In a bipartisan 60-2 vote, the committee approved its version of the national defense authorization act (NDAA), which proposes keeping alive the Air Force’s A-10 attack plane fleet and endorses extra funding for additional fighter jets for the Navy and Marine Corps.

The marathon session ended just after 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, and featured little — and in some cases no — debate about the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan or a Republican-crafted overseas contingency operations (OCO) account opposed by many Democrats and the White House because it inflates defense spending without doing the same for domestic programs.

Continue reading at http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/congress/2015/04/30/hasc-passes-2016-ndaa/26604205/