Under the plan, the Pentagon would request $576 billion for its main budget, equal to the spending cap, along with up to $174 billion in spending for the Overseas Contingency Operations fund.
Politico: Trump’s end run on defense spending
The budget gimmick is especially striking given that Trump budget chief Mick Mulvaney once fought to limit the very same war account.
President Donald Trump is preparing to ask Congress for yet another increase in defense spending in the coming weeks. But his plan would evade federal budget limits by stashing nearly a quarter of that money in an off-the-books account — and both Democrats and Republicans say it won’t fly in Congress.
The White House is expected to stuff as much as $174 billion of its $750 billion request for national defense for the coming fiscal year into a special war fund, allowing the administration to maintain its long-sought military buildup without violating a 2011 law aimed at reining in the deficit.
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WNU Editor: The U.S. congress had no problem permitting President Obama's Pentagon to have this "slush fund", but they are not so eager to do the same for President Trump. This is also a reversal for President Trump and previous promises. A lot of Washington politics are at play right now. My prediction is that a compromise will be found. More details on the 2020 U.S. defense budget can be found here .... Pentagon planning a mammoth FY-20 war budget to avoid spending cap (Inside Defense).
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