The Hill News

Republican leaders will pass a defense appropriations bill, and a complete federal budget, the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee vowed Sunday.

“In the last Congress, [Democratic leaders] didn’t pass a budget. They didn’t pass any appropriations bills,” Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) said. “I’ve never seen anything like that in the time I’ve been in Congress.” McKeon took office in 1993.

During an appearance on “This Week in Defense News,” McKeon said that will change, at least in the House, which is now controlled by Republicans.

“We have new leadership now. We have a new budget a committee chairman,” he said referring to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). “We’ll be bringing the appropriation bills to the floor under open rules. We will have a budget passed, and we will have [a defense] appropriations bill passed.”

Meantime, McKeon said it remains unclear when Congress might pass a 2011 defense appropriations bill.

“The problem is separating defense out of all of the other spending and giving them a special status, which I think they deserve,” he said. “But so do other people about their committees.”