The White House has threatened to veto the House Armed Services Committee’s fiscal 2017 defense policy bill for using overseas contingency operations fund to supplement the Defense Department‘s base budget, The Hill newspaper reported Monday.
Kristina Wong writes an HASC-approved 2017 National Defense Authorization Act seeks to use approximately $18 billion from the OCO account to finance the department’s efforts to retain military personnel and procure additional military vehicles.
“By gambling with warfighting funds, the bill risks the safety of our men and women fighting to keep America safe, undercuts stable planning and efficient use of taxpayer dollars, dispirits troops and their families, baffles our allies and emboldens our enemies,” the White House said in a statement of administration policy.
The Obama administration also opposes provisions in the committee’s NDAA that would keep a U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and cut funding for equipment and training support for Iraqi and Syrian warfighters, Reuters’ Patricia Zangerle reported.
The report said House GOP leadership expects the bill to go to a floor vote by Wednesday.
