U.S. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell announced Wednesday a spending deal with Democrats to prevent another federal government shutdown. The deal, if it is approved by Congress and signed by President Trump, would give additional funding to defense and non-defense programs over the next two years. It also lifts the debt ceiling to March 2019.
U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, hopes Congress passes the measure.
“This deal is necessary because it provides the funding our military desperately needs. Our armed forces are facing the greatest threats in history, and after chronic underfunding by President Obama, our readiness and modernization efforts have fallen significantly behind both our adversaries and our allies.
“President Trump has joined Congress in rightly prioritizing our military, and his Administration’s National Defense Strategy recognizes the severe threats we face. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Islamic terrorism are all stacking up against us, and we need to provide significant new resources to our military to adequately address these threats.
“With this agreement, we’re securing a pathway to fully fund the President’s defense priorities while simultaneously decoupling our military from the Democrats’ demands of providing the same level of increases for domestic social spending. Our troops are counting on us. I urge all of my colleagues to pass this deal,” said Inhofe after the deal was announced.
