President Donald Trump on Friday signed a spending measure that would allocate a defense budget of $700 billion for fiscal year 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019, The Associated Press reported Sunday.The FY 2018 budget would earmark approximately $629 billion for base defense budget and about $71 billion for overseas war funds in Afghanistan and other countries.
The measure would also allot funds for the procurement of up to 28 additional ground-based interceptor missiles and authorize a 2.4 percent increase in military pay.
Defense Secretary James Mattis, a 2018 Wash100 recipient said the two-year bipartisan deal introduced by the Senate Wednesday would help address combat readiness challenges faced by U.S. troops.
The FY 2018 budget bill reflects a 15.5 percent increase, or approximately $94 billion, in defense budget over the previous fiscal year, the report added.
Reuters also reported that Trump is expected Monday to release his administration’s proposed budget for fiscal 2019.
A White House official said the president’s FY 2019 budget request will be based on economic growth assumptions of 3.2 percent in 2019, 3 percent in 2021 and 2.8 percent in 2026.
The spending measure that Trump signed would fund federal agencies through March 23 and extend the government’s borrowing authority through March 2019, the report added.
