The debt deal limits Pentagon spending. Lawmakers are already figuring out ways around it.

Politics

The ink is barely dry on a debt limit deal that constrains Pentagon spending for the next two years, but lawmakers in both parties are already looking for ways to boost funding levels in spite of those caps.

The pact passed the House late Wednesday with the support of most Republican defense hawks, even though the deal caps national defense spending at the administration’s $886 billion proposal for fiscal 2024. It’s still unclear as of Thursday afternoon how the GOP will break in the Senate.

That hasn’t stopped Democrats and Republicans from looking for creative ways to increase the Pentagon budget.