WASHINGTON \u2014\u00a0Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has long pushed for increased defense spending, will leave office in January.<\/p>\n
As chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on defense, McConnell will have one more chance to weigh in on funding for the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
On Friday, President Donald Trump proposed a budget for the year beginning Oct. 1\u00a0
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It includes $1.5 trillion in defense spending, a 44% increase
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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
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Sen. Mitch McConnell, who leads the appropriations subcommittee on defense, said he welcomed “the president\u2019s request for significant growth”\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Friday, President Donald Trump proposed a budget<\/a> for the year beginning Oct. 1, including $1.5 trillion in defense spending, a 44% increase.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an approach to defense spending McConnell has previously criticized<\/a>.<\/p>\n In response to this year\u2019s defense budget request, McConnell said in a statement<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cUndoing the damage of chronic underinvestment in the national defense is a multi-year proposition, and I welcome the president\u2019s request for significant growth in annual appropriations for the U.S. armed forces.\u201d<\/p>\n But McConnell warned, \u201cBudget reconciliation, for its part, can only supplement \u2014 not replace \u2014 the consistent demand signals necessary to secure the private sector investments necessary to adequately expand and modernize our defense industrial base.\u201d<\/p>\n The president\u2019s budget proposal also includes a 10% cut to non-defense programs.<\/p>\n