US House passes a Defense Bill higher than Biden wanted….

The President wanted to make cuts in the military budget ….

He thought after Afghanistan he could do so….

Congress thought better and added more money….

That money might be used for the possible Ukraine deployments already….

The Senate is expected to also approve the bill before Christmas….

It contains a pay raise for the troops….

The legislation, unveiled hours before the vote, put the Democratic-led Congress on track to increase the Pentagon’s budget by roughly $24 billion above what President Biden had requested, angering antiwar progressives who had hoped that their party’s control of the White House and both houses of Congress would lead to cuts to military programs after decades of growth.

Instead, the measure provides significant increases for initiatives intended to counter China and bolster Ukraine, as well as the procurement of new aircraft and ships, underscoring the bipartisan consensus on Capitol Hill for continuing to spend huge amounts of federal money on defense initiatives, even as Republicans lash Democrats for spending freely on social programs.

On the heels of winding down the nation’s 20-year war in Afghanistan, Mr. Biden declared the end of an era defined by ground wars with large troop deployments and pledged that the United States instead would counter threats through military technology and cybersecurity competition. But citing new threats from Russia and China, lawmakers rejected the president’s request to keep military spending essentially flat, and instead overwhelmingly called for boosting it substantially….

…

The lopsided 363-to-70 vote on Tuesday sent the legislation to the Senate, where it is expected to be passed with a strong bipartisan vote as soon as this week. It came just minutes after the House approved an unusual measure to lay the path for a swift increase in the debt ceiling to avert a first-ever federal default, clearing the way for Democrats in Congress to complete their year-end business and use the remainder rest of their legislative calendar to try to enact Mr. Biden’s marquee social and climate policy bill.

Because it authorizes an annual pay increase for the nation’s troops as well as new Pentagon programs, the defense policy bill has typically been considered a must-pass item, and lawmakers have prided themselves on doing so annually without fail for decades. The House and Senate usually craft and pass their own bills separately, considering dozens of amendments along the way, before negotiating a compromise version.

But this year, the process has collapsed in an end-of-year spasm of dysfunction unusual even for a legislative body that is plagued by partisan paralysis…..

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It also contains a painstakingly negotiated compromise to strip military commanders of authority over sexual assault cases and many other serious crimes, placing them under independent military prosecutors in a move that had long been opposed by military leaders and presidents. Both Mr. Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III endorsed the shift earlier this year.

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