The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved fiscal 2019 appropriations legislation that would provide full-year funding for the Department of Defense, with a plus-up for its nuclear missile programs.
The 361-61 vote, following Senate approval last week, sends the $855 billion legislation to President Donald Trump for signing. While Trump has complained about the bill’s lack of funding for a wall on the border with Mexico, he indicated Wednesday he would sign the legislation.
The appropriations measure would provide full-year funding starting Oct. 1 for the Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education departments. It would also provide funding through Dec. 7 for the federal agencies still waiting on their own appropriations to pass. That does not include the Department of Energy, which got its fiscal 2019 funding last week when Trump signed a separate budget “minibus.”
A number of House members noted Wednesday that the bill would represent the first on-time funding for the Pentagon in more than a decade. The Defense Department slice of the appropriations measure totals roughly $675 billion, $2 billion below the White House request but about $18 billion more than the current funding level.
It would provide close to $415 million for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program to replace the current arsenal of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. That would be nearly double the current appropriation and 20 percent above the White House request.
The Long-Range Standoff nuclear-armed cruise missile would receive roughly $665 million for fiscal 2019. That would be 50 percent above the fiscal 2018 appropriation and some 8 percent more than requested.
The Defense Department wants to deploy both missiles beginning in the late 2020s.
