House passes $612 billion defense bill opposed by Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a nearly $612 billion defense policy bill despite a veto threat by President Barack Obama.

Democrats oppose it because they say the measure paves the way to cutting domestic programs later this year.

Friday’s vote was 269-151 for the bill, which maps next year’s military and national security programs.

A 2011 bipartisan budget deal placed caps on defense and domestic spending. The defense bill skirts those limits by putting $89 billion of the total into an emergency war-fighting fund exempt from the caps.

Democrats predict that Republicans won’t take similar steps to protect domestic programs in upcoming spending bills.