Senate and House conferees agreed late last week to hold the Fiscal 2006 supplemental appropriations for the war on terror and hurricane recovery to $94.5 billion—more than the House proposed, but much less than the Senate version. The President had requested $98.7 billion and vowed to veto the measure if lawmakers went above the Administration request. The conferees agreed to fund DOD at the Administration’s request of $65.8 billion. (Find the Senate summary here and the House here.)
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.