Eyeing China’s rise as a global military and economic power, lawmakers unveiled a compromise defense policy bill Thursday that targets China on multiple fronts, with $6.9 billion prescribed for a new Pacific Deterrence Initiative over two years.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith said he believes President Donald Trump would veto the bill but warned it “would be a huge political mistake.”
U.S. Army officials told lawmakers Tuesday they are seeking a new 15-year, $16 billion strategy to modernize and automate the military’s aging munitions plants following nearly a dozen worker deaths and injuries over recent years.
The House’s forthcoming NDAA may include a billion-dollar pandemic response and preparedness fund, in part to boost domestic production of medical equipment, like ventilators and face masks.
Outraged Democrats plan to use the massive defense budget and policy bill to fight President Donald Trump’s push to use the U.S. military to quell days of riots, and they may seek defense cuts to do it.
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