This Week in Congress Update

Congressional leadership has pulled their spending plan because of objections from both the progressives and moderates. The moderates object to the higher spending levels without offsets while the progressives object that it increases “defense” spending more than domestic spending. So the Democratic leadership will resume negotiating over the bill.

Republicans object to the Democrats spending plan because — even though it spends $664 billion on “defense” in 2020, a 2.1% increase, and $680 billion in 2022 — it does not spend enough on defense. President Trump requested $750 billion for Fiscal Year 2020, which Republicans claim is the bare minimum needed to defend the country. Of course, both parties define defending America to mean intervening around the world to spread democracy and human rights. A defense budget that actually defended America would not require spending trillions of dollars to ”police the world.” As Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul says, you cannot support an interventionist foreign policy and be a defense hawk.