Congress is poised to avert a government shutdown this week with a fiscal year 2017 omnibus appropriations bill that boosts the Pentagon’s warfighting account by $15 billion, which is only half of what the Trump administration had sought, setting the stage for yet another partisan battle over spending in FY-18.

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Laicie Heeley, a budget analyst with the Stimson Center, said the FY-17 budget deal struck by Republicans and Democrats, which did not include funding for a wall on the southern border, is indicative of what will ultimately happen in FY-18 once lawmakers are forced to hash out another spending deal when threatened with a government shutdown.

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