Senate approves military spending boost

WASHINGTON—The Senate passed its annual defense spending package Monday night, revealing broad support for increased military funding. The $700 billion measure passed 89-8. “For too long our nation has asked our men and women in uniform to do too much with far too little,” Sen. John McCain, R., Ariz., said on the Senate floor Monday. Lawmakers waded through more than 100 amendments to the package during the last several weeks to strike a compromise both sides found palatable. The bill authorizes $640 billion in base funding for military spending with an additional $60 billion in an emergency war fund. Last year’s package capped military spending at $549 billion. The House passed its version in July and now negotiators from both chambers must iron out the differences before sending a final bill to President Donald Trump to sign. The House version caps military spending at $696 billion and establishes a U.S. Space Corps as a separate military service within the Air Force. The Senate bill does not contain language for a Space Corps but instead creates a new position at the Pentagon to oversee space warfare.