Democrats Deadlocked on Military Spending

After weeks of negotiations, Democratic efforts to prepare a budget resolution foundered Thursday as the House and Senate deadlocked on the issue of military spending.

“We’ve got to find a way to do this,” a weary Sen. Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said after an unsuccessful meeting with House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) and Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.).

“We are Democrats with a mission, we’ve got to put this together,” he said.

The Senate is insisting on a bigger military budget than the House will accept. And, although Democrats have majorities in both chambers, they have been unable to reach a compromise.

Embarrassment to Party

Chiles said discussions will continue next week. But the lack of progress on the issue so far has become an embarrassment to the party, which had hoped to quickly present a unified front on defense spending to the Reagan Administration.

Republican members have been sitting on the sidelines, enjoying the spectacle of their counterparts squabbling among themselves.

Refusing to acknowledge an impasse, House Majority Leader Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) flashed the thumbs-up sign at reporters after the meeting ended and assured: “We’re working on it.”

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” he added jokingly.

The Senate has called for spending $289 billion on defense, with $8 billion of it linked directly to a tax increase. The House originally approved a figure of $281 billion and offered this week to compromise at $286 billion.

No Senate Response

The House offer “did not stir any response on our side,” said Chiles.

In the House, particularly among the more liberal members, there has been little sentiment for yielding further. “On the House side, the biggest problem is the defense number,” Chiles said.

The Democratic disarray is offering political fodder for President Reagan, who is expected to attack Congress for giving short shrift to national security at a time of volatile international tensions. Even the higher Senate figure is well short of Reagan’s proposal, which calls for $297 billion in defense outlays for the 1988 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Both the House and the Senate budget resolutions, which cover broad categories of spending on domestic and foreign policy programs, will also draw the Administration’s fire for providing for tax increases. Reagan has pledged to veto any measures that include more taxes.

Hike of $18 Billion

The House and the Senate plans each would increase taxes at least $18 billion next year as part of a $1-trillion budget. Under both, the federal deficit for the year would be approximately $135 billion. The $8 billion in additional defense spending in the Senate measure would be directly linked to tax increases--forcing Reagan to choose between his no-tax and pro-defense priorities.

The House Democrats regard that tactic as an improper ploy to get extra military outlays they believe are unjustified.

After a budget resolution is passed, specific expenditures for government programs will be set by Congress in separate appropriations bills.