...Kate Blakeley, a defense budget analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said the BBA has "broken down" for FY-17, despite the attempts of Senate appropriators to maintain it in their defense bill. "With stark differences of opinion between the House and Senate, the odds of getting either a policy or an appropriations bill before the election is very low," she said. "Even in non-election years, tensions between funding defense and non-defense priorities have made getting the [policy bill] and defense appropriations across the finish line difficult. In a presidential election year, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have any incentive to compromise." Blakeley predicted Congress will pass a CR "at least" through Election Day...
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