According to the Associated Press news service, the Bush Administration was about 2,000 troops shy of its goal to have 2,500 National Guardsmen on border duty by the end of June. National Guard Bureau officials told AP that there were at least 2,000 others within the Border States who were either in training or helping to plan the mission. AP reports that, so far, only 10 states had signed agreements with the Pentagon for their Guardsmen to deploy, some have been holding back because of floods and fires within their own states, while others wanted concrete assurances that the Pentagon would pay.
The Senate passed Republicans’ sweeping tax-and-spending package July 1 in a 51-50 vote, the culmination of a 27-hour marathon legislative session. The package—often called the reconciliation bill—includes a $150 billion package of defense funds that accounts for a significant portion of the money the Air Force and Space Force want…
