Congressional leaders are negotiating a budget deal with the Administration that would raise budget caps on discretionary spending by about $182B over two years. The proposed deal would increase defense spending by $54B above the $549B limit for FY18 and non-defense spending by $37B above the $515.6B limit for FY18. Those same increases would be applied in FY19 when the caps are $562B for defense and $529.2B for non-defense. The budget deal may not include a legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or funding for a southwest border wall.
Democrats have apparently rejected the offer and are insisting on parity between defense and non-defense spending increases. Conservatives want to offset the spending limit increases with cuts to other programs, including entitlements. And defense hawks could push for additional defense spending in line with the levels provided in the final FY18 National Defense Authorization Act sent to the President this week for his signature. That bill authorized $626B for base Pentagon funding.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said a budget deal could be reach by the end of this month, and may be announced as early as next week.