Budget Agreement Reached

A bipartisan panel of lawmakers struck an agreement to resolve the impasse over the 2016 defense-spending bill Nov. 3. The total budget now sits at roughly $599 billion. The deal trims $5 billion from the disputed budget. The Association for the U.S. Army (AUSA) reported that the service would not receive roughly $450 million in funding for readiness, including $250 million from the active-duty component and $192.6 million from the reserve component. The Army still stands to lose about 15,000 active-duty soldiers, 8,200 National Guard members, and 4,000 reservists, AUSA reported.