Government

House Passes Bill Cutting DOD, VA Construction Funds

Spending on DOD’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program continues to fall. The bill cuts BRAC spending 16% to $451 million.

Among the amendments that the House approved was one from Rep. Jon Runyan (R-N.J.) that would prevent DOD from launching a new BRAC round. The last one began in 2005.

Runyan said in a statement that his amendment “ensures the limited resources we have are used to address current mission and readiness needs” and “also protects the jobs and missions of bases across the country, including Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.” Part of that base is in his district.

The White House issued a ">veto threat on the milcon/VA bill—and any other appropriations measure that adheres to the overall $966-billion fiscal 2014 discretionary spending ceiling provided in the House-passed budget resolution. The 2011 Budget Control Act sets the 2014 cap at $1.07 trillion.

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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