21 December 2022

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Thank you for being a faithful subscriber to the Morning FRAGO! The new year will bring a new look to the FRAGO. Starting in January, the FRAGO will be a weekly publication, rather than a daily, but will still be the same reliable collection of news and commentary that veterans and military families are paying attention to. Expect to see a new, Weekly FRAGO with fresh content hitting your inboxes in 2023!

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Military Times | VA to get $300B, its biggest budget ever, under federal spending deal

The Department of Veterans Affairs budget would top $300 billion for the first time ever in fiscal 2023 under the federal government appropriations plan unveiled by congressional negotiators on Tuesday.

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The $1.7 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that lawmakers hope to finalize later this week includes $303.8 billion in VA funding for fiscal 2023, the largest ever for the department. That’s up about 10% from fiscal 2022 levels.

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Defense News | Congress boosts Pentagon budget, Ukraine spending in omnibus

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Congress on Tuesday released its fiscal 2023 omnibus spending bill that includes $27.9 billion in emergency U.S. Department of Defense spending for Ukraine on top of a $69.3 billion budget increase for the Pentagon over FY 22 levels.

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The bill funds the 8% total defense budget increase that Congress passed last week and includes $797.7 billion in DoD funding to help the Pentagon cope with inflation, bolster the Navy and expand industrial base capacity.