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Article snippet: Lawmakers are buckling up for what they expect will be rocky negotiations this year over spending priorities for the fiscal 2020 defense budget. In an attempt to skirt budget caps, MORE is expected to propose more than doubling the amount of money in a war fund that is not subject to those funding limits. But that maneuver is viewed as a non-starter for Democrats and even some Republicans who say it will complicate talks from day one. “I’m very worried,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman MORE (D-Wash.) said about this year’s budget negotiations. “How do they find their way back to a reasonable point in the discussion?” Also looming over the defense budget is Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency and dip into Pentagon coffers to build his proposed border wall. The Department of Defense has said it will request funding to replace the money being used for the wall, but Democrats have made clear they consider that a roundabout way to get Congress to approve wall funding. Trump is slated to release his fiscal 2020 budget request next week. Presidential budgets are often dismissed on Capitol Hill since lawmakers are responsible for deciding how much money to spend and on what. But the president’s budget requests will put down an important marker for his policy priorities heading into budget negotiations. Trump is expected to request $750 billion in defense spending. Of that amount, $174 billion is expected to be categorized under a war fund known as th... Link to the full article to read more