House Panel Would Prevent Pentagon Shuffling Nuclear Funds Around

The House Appropriations Committee has approved another $13.7 billion for nuclear weapons accounts, part of the Energy-Water bill. The legislation also limits the Pentagon’s ability to shuffle the money from one account to the next.

This is important because, as was seen in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) budgets, the Pentagon tends to use moveable assets as all-purpose cash. There are nuclear weapons accounts that are semi-autonomous, heightening the concern.

The bill is controversial on party lines, with Republicans complaining that the Democrats didn’t fund nuclear weapons even more. The bill also offered some pandemic funds that the White House is believed to oppose.

The bill also bans nuclear weapons testing, something that President Trump is reportedly interested in. House Democrats say this is a critical aspect of the bill.