What the $33 billion War Supplemental Has Become

Over the past several months, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others have urged Congress to pass a $33 billion supplemental spending request to continue funding the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  In recent weeks, the tone of the rhetoric has intensified, with Gates warning that the military may have to start doing “stupid things” if the supplemental is not passed by the upcoming July 4th recess.  Even General David Petraeus has weighed in on the issue in recent days, urging the House to pass the bill during his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Reversing the usual pattern, the Senate passed its version of the bill on May 27, but the bill has stalled in the House, largely due to two concurrent factors:

1) Large-scale defections of Democratic representatives who do not wish to go on record as having voted for more war funding, and;
2) Republican resistance to billions in spending that has been tacked on to the bill for programs unrelated to the war.  These include aid to Haiti, other disaster relief funds, disability payments to veterans, and much more.

Congress won’t make its July 4 deadline for a conference agreement, but the House hopes to pass its version of the bill later today.  In the final scramble, the bill is changing by the hour, but as of June 30 it had ballooned to nearly $75 billion.

(Highlights of the bill after the jump)

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Security Matters, Iraq & Afghanistan, war supplemental, pork, defense spending (all tags)