Appropriators push to lift budget caps, increase Pentagon budget

Lawmakers on the House and Senate Armed Services committees have previously signaled openness to boosting the Pentagon’s budget beyond the 1% cap imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Now, top appropriators who allocate funding for the Pentagon are pushing for a higher topline number, but negotiations on going beyond the budget caps are “not going well.” 
“We are a long way from increasing the caps. There’s a number of political reasons why that’s the case. What I would tell the folks on both sides of the aisle is that if we don’t do a good job in deterrence right now, it’s going to cost us a hell of a lot more money later,” Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said during the Ash Carter Exchange conference Wednesday. “The negotiations on the budget caps are still in flux.”
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