The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $1.058 trillion spending ceiling for Fiscal 2014 on June 20. The guidance—like its counterpart in the House—ignores additional rounds of sequestration. “An allocation of $1.058 trillion is consistent with the American Taxpayer Relief Act—the budget resolution that passed the Senate on March 23—and is more than $1 billion below the President’s request,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), chairwoman of the committee. “For those who say $1.058 trillion is excessive, that we should spend less, I say, cuts have consequences for the American people.” The Senate topline is $91 billion above the $967 billion set by the House. “I’m not willing to accept that sequester is ‘the new normal.’ The $967 billion ceiling in this alternative spending allocation and the (House) budget is the sequester level for fiscal year 2014. It does not meet the needs of the growing nation,” said Mikulski.
Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned that Russia would remain an enduring threat to NATO and global security, regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine.