Defense spending

Senate sends $717B defense bill to Trump

The Senate on Wednesday easily cleared and sent to President Donald Trump a compromise $717 billion defense policy bill aimed at building up the military and blunting Chinese foreign investment and telecommunications technology.

The final vote on the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act was 87-10. The president is expected to sign it.

Next, the Senate turns to legislation to fund the Defense Department, which will likely be packaged with an annual Labor-HHS-Education spending bill to attract bipartisan support.

The final defense policy bill is the product of brisk talks between leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, who are finishing their work in historic fashion. If the NDAA is signed soon, as expected, it would be the first time in more than two decades a defense policy bill has become law before the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.