US pumps extra £65 billion into military as Trump readies strike on Kim Jong-un
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives yesterday voted 356-70 to approve the new bill. If it passes the Senate, it will mark a dramatic increase in US military spending.
DONALD Trump's £530 billion defence spending bill has passed its first hurdle in Congress, paving the way for a massive cash injection into the US military.
It comes as Trump repeatedly threatens North Korea, warning Kim Jong-un that he will be destroyed with "fire and fury" should he continue his nuclear weapons programme.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives yesterday voted 356-70 for the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which authorises spending and sets policies controlling how the money is spent.
The Act authorises £480 billion ($634 billion) in base defence spending, for such things as buying weapons and paying the troops, well above the £420 ($549 billion) billion allowed under the previous legislation, as well as £50 billion ($66 billion) in special war funding.
It also includes provisions for an increase in active troop levels by more than 16,000, and states climate change is a national security threat.
It will become law if it passes the Republican-controlled Senate and is signed into law by the president, as expected.
But spending will nonetheless be cut automatically if Congress cannot come up with a deal to resolve where the money will come from.
Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said Congress' failure to address the issue makes life more difficult for military leaders because they cannot plan in advance.
"This defense bill is $72 billion (£54 billion) over the budget caps, so if we don't eliminate or raise the budget caps, that additional money will go away and leave us once again in the land of uncertainty for the Department of Defense," he said.
Representative Mac Thornberry, the House Armed Service Committee's Republican chairman, said Congress needed to pass an appropriations bill to allow for the $700 billion.
"Securing those appropriations must be Congress' top priority before the year ends," Thornberry said in a statement.
Just two days ago a new wave of US aircraft carriers arrived at the Korean peninsula where they are carrying out war drills.
And in August the firebrand President warned Kim that if he continued to provoke the US, he would be "met with fire and fury like the world has never seen".
MOST READ IN NEWS
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.'