The House has passed a $717 billion defense policy bill that would give the military a 2.6 percent pay hike, the largest in nine years. (Charles Dharapak/AP)The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Thursday to pass its version of an annual bill to fund defense programs and U.S. military operations, despite objections from the White House over key elements of Pentagon restructuring and from Democrats over how it revamps the country’s nuclear arsenal. The 351-to-66 vote is not the final word on the matter, as the Senate has yet to weigh in with its version of the defense bill, which the Senate Armed Services Committee completed work on this week. The White House objected to several of the policy positions in the measure but stopped short of threatening to veto the bill. The administration also objected to certain organizational changes the bill would make at the Pentagon.

Source: Washington Post May 24, 2018 17:29 UTC