WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has long pushed for increased defense spending, will leave office in January.

As chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on defense, McConnell will have one more chance to weigh in on funding for the Pentagon.

What You Need To Know

On Friday, President Donald Trump proposed a budget for the year beginning Oct. 1 

It includes $1.5 trillion in defense spending, a 44% increase

Under the proposal, $350 billion of that total would have to be approved through a process known as reconciliation, which allows legislation to move forward in the Senate with a simple majority vote

Sen. Mitch McConnell, who leads the appropriations subcommittee on defense, said he welcomed “the president’s request for significant growth” 

On Friday, President Donald Trump proposed a budget for the year beginning Oct. 1, including $1.5 trillion in defense spending, a 44% increase.

Under the proposal, $350 billion of that total would have to be approved through a process known as reconciliation, which allows legislation to move forward in the Senate with a simple majority vote.

It’s an approach to defense spending McConnell has previously criticized.

In response to this year’s defense budget request, McConnell said in a statement:

“Undoing the damage of chronic underinvestment in the national defense is a multi-year proposition, and I welcome the president’s request for significant growth in annual appropriations for the U.S. armed forces.”

But McConnell warned, “Budget reconciliation, for its part, can only supplement — not replace — the consistent demand signals necessary to secure the private sector investments necessary to adequately expand and modernize our defense industrial base.”

The president’s budget proposal also includes a 10% cut to non-defense programs.

McConnell’s Democratic counterpart on the committee, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, criticized the proposed budget in a social media post.

“We must support our service members and make sure our military has what it needs to keep us safe,” Coons wrote. “This budget goes far beyond that. It reflects leadership that is in way over their heads, and it will leave already struggling Americans sicker, poorer and less secure.”

Ultimately, Congress decides the budget, not the White House.

The subcommittee will welcome “candid testimony” from military and intelligence leaders in the coming weeks, McConnell said.