Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced a budget amendment Wednesday to remove a procedural roadblock that threatens to kill billions in extra defense funding.
“I urge my colleagues … to go ahead and pass this budget and give our military what they need,” McCain said. “As dire as the deficit is … right now we are facing a far greater risk. I hope we can pass this budget with the OCO in it.”
McCain’s amendment is in response to concerns that the $38 billion in extra Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding added by Budget Committee Republicans last week could face a political hurdle that would likely kill the extra funding.
{mosads}As part of the current GOP budget, if the OCO fund goes above $58 billion, where it was originally set, it faces a “point of order,” meaning the higher funding would need to get 60 votes to be approved.
The Arizona Republican’s amendment would change it so a “point of order” would only happen if the OCO fund goes above approximately $96 billion.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) slammed Republicans on Tuesday for what he said “must be a drafting error” that threatened the extra war funds.
“That money isn’t even close to being real. Because of what seems to be a drafting error, not one extra dollar can be spent on defense above the sequestration caps,” Reid said.
“The resolution currently on the floor puts a strict cap on OCO funding. … In other words, the Republicans’ extra defense money is a fraud. A hoax. Certainly a political gimmick.”
But Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he doesn’t think the budget puts a procedural hurdle in place if lawmakers want to increase the OCO spending.
“I think there’s some confusion on that,” Cornyn said. Asked whether he thinks there’s a problem, the Texas Republican said “no.”
McCain’s amendment is the just the latest step in a back-and-forth among Republicans on defense.
Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have introduced an amendment to further increase the Pentagon’s budget.
Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential contender, said while he respects the Budget Committee’s work, he wants a “serious” debate over defense spending.
Rubio’s amendment could pit potential Republican presidential contenders against each other. While Rubio is considered a defense hawk, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has repeatedly backed efforts to slash defense spending.
Cornyn called the increase in OCO funding “the beginning of a longer conversation.”
Democrats suggested Wednesday the current back-and-forth is the first step in the larger fight.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen the chairman of the House Budget Committee bring two Republican budgets to the floor. Price-one and Price-two,” Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said. “I don’t know which Price is right, but from our perspective, they’re both wrong, and I’ll tell you why. They both — they both essentially play games with how we fund defense.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who told reporters Republicans will have to bring together their fiscal and defense hawks, said Democrats will insist any increase in defense spending be matched by an equal increase in non-defense spending.
“One minimum requirement we all have is that we certainly … we don’t want to stay at sequestration levels,” the New York Democrat said. “And we want the increases to be at the 50/50 levels.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said a budget amendment will also be introduced that will require Congress to pay for any future wars.
“The American people have to know that wars are not free. They’re quite expensive. And they have to be paid for,” Sanders told reporters. “So we will be saying to our Republican colleagues, ‘If you’re planning for another war, you’re going to have to pay for it. You can’t put it on the credit card.’ “