House appropriators ripped a proposal to decommission four littoral combat ships contained in President Joe Biden’s Pentagon budget request for next year as “a misuse of taxpayer funds.”
The introduction of the 11-page Shipyard Act comes after President Joe Biden proposed a $2.25 trillion infrastructure package and Republicans made a $568 billion counteroffer.
With Democrats fighting to retake the Senate and the White House in the Nov. 3 elections, Sen. Jack Reed is favored to move into one of Congress' most visible positions and become a major defense figure for his party ― and just as the military’s transition toward competition with China and Russia is gaining momentum.
Pentagon leaders need “around $10 billion” in the next pandemic aid package to cover defense contractors’ coronavirus-related costs. But it’s unclear how the hefty funding handout will square with Republican skepticism of new deficit spending.