Defense Hawks lose....kiss that Pentagon plus up goodbye...

via Reuters.

With a Dec. 8 deadline rapidly approaching for either extending federal funding in some way or triggering a partial government shutdown, the House next week will advance a temporary patch, according to a senior aide, and try to provide money through Dec. 22.

That will give Congress more time to craft a second patch, the aide said, to operate the government through January.

While the moves, if successful, would keep the Pentagon running at last year’s levels, they are far from Republican hopes of handing Trump about $634 billion in fiscal 2018 funding for the military’s regular operations, $85 billion above last year.

........

 Democrats are demanding increases in non-defense spending if military budgets are pumped up as Trump has demanded.

Story here. 

If you've been paying attention then you know the Senate just passed a huge tax cut bill that is unpopular and many say is aimed at the rich/corporations.

What does that have to do with anything?

That means that the Republicans, who can't run a boy scout jamboree much less congress, are stuck between another rock and a hard thing.

The defense hawks want increased spending, the domestic spending crowd want spending on their projects and the deficit hawks are screaming at them both.

From my chair what that will mean is more stopgap spending bills, more weird financing gimmicks from the Pentagon and all hope of increased defense spending gone with the wind.

The good thing?

Once the Pentagon stops hoping for a plus up they'll be forced to think.