Lawmakers reach deal on next year’s VA, military construction budget

Military Times: Congress could finalize the Veterans Affairs and military construction budgets in coming days after a conference committee released a compromise funding plan late Monday night, following two months of halting negotiations.

The plan calls for nearly $209 billion in total VA spending in fiscal 2019, a more than 6 percent boost for the department’s budget and the first time it has topped $200 billion. The VA budget has nearly quadrupled over the last 17 years, pushed higher not only by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also expanded benefits for those who served in earlier conflicts.

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