Hawkish lawmakers frustrated by budget caps press for repeal

Defense News:  WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump missed his campaign promise to offer a bill to "eliminate the defense sequester” within the first 100 days of his administration, but hawkish Republican lawmakers are pressing ahead.

The heads of the House and Senate armed services committees — bolstered by a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., signed by 141 lawmakers — are calling for a repeal of budget caps for defense.

The organizer of the letter, Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the HASC Air and Land Subcommittee, introduced a bill in March to that effect. On the Senate side, SASC Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., said he’s open to whatever works — Turner's bill, a deal with Democrats that repeals budget caps universally or making a vehicle out of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act are on the table.

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