Joe Gould

US lawmakers welcomed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ visit to Capitol Hill Tuesday to talk up defense spending and decry unstable budgeting, but it’s unclear he moved the needle in favor of Pentagon spending.

Two Democratic lawmakers are sponsoring legislation that would require the president to receive congressional approval before initiating a first-use nuclear strike from the United States.

Although lawmakers managed to avert a government shutdown before skipping town for the holidays, they will face a mess when they return in January.

The four-week budget deal would keep federal operations uninterrupted through Christmas, but again put off debate over a full-year fix.

House Republicans are scrapping plans to wed a full-year defense spending bill to a short-term continuing resolution for the rest of government.

As U.S. lawmakers return to the brink of a government shutdown this week, defense insiders are hopeful Congress will find a path to a budget deal that eases military spending limits.

Congress doesn’t buy the Pentagon’s argument that BRAC will save money. So what comes next?

U.S. lawmakers on Thursday averted a government shutdown this week by passing a new funding extension to keep federal operations running for two more weeks, in the hopes of reaching a broader budget consensus before Christmas.

With government funding set to expire at the end of Friday, House and Senate leaders are backing a two-week continuing resolution, through Dec. 22, to avert a government shutdown and buy more time to reach a 2018 funding deal.