$579 billion defense bill passes House
Source: My San Antonio
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday approved a $579 billion defense spending bill that reflected deep divisions on budget priorities and whether President Barack Obama needs new war powers to fight Islamic State militants.
The vote was 278 to 149 in favor of the bill, which drew opposition from Democrats because it uses a war-fighting account to raise defense spending next year.
The bill gives President Barack Obama all the money he requested for defense but did so by increasing the war-fighting account, which is not subject to congressional spending caps. The president says he will veto spending bills that do not deal with the arbitrary spending limits and treat defense and nondefense expenditures equally.
Before the final vote, the House rejected an amendment to force lawmakers to vote by the end of March on new war powers to fight the militants.
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