Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said Tuesday afternoon he is hopeful that the full chamber can take up the fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill by the end of the calendar year, Defense News reported Wednesday.John Bennett writes the committee has already passed the bill that matches the White House’s request for $606 billion in defense funds, including $526.6 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget and $79.4 billion for Afghanistan and other overseas operations.
The House Armed Services Committee has approved its version of the bill, which would give the Pentagon $552.1 billion in base funds and $85 billion for the war budget, according to the report.
A House-Senate conference committee will write a final version of the bill to be signed by President Barack Obama, Bennett reported.
