US lawmakers pass $690bn Pentagon budget

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives passed a $690 billion Pentagon budget Thursday that bars American ground forces in Libya and limits the Obama administration's powers on handling Guantanamo detainees.

Lawmakers voted 322-96 in favor of the budget plan which met the Defense Department's request for $119 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It also placed restrictions on President Barack Obama's authority to reduce the US nuclear weapons stockpile under the new START treaty with Russia, prompting a White House veto threat earlier this week.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon said the bill "mandates fiscal responsibility within the Department of Defense" as the United States struggles to recover from its worst recession in decades by cutting "wasteful" programs and using the funds for "higher priorities."

Shortly before passing the bill, which must now be reconciled with a Senate version, the House narrowly defeated by 215-204 an amendment demanding an accelerated timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan. (AFP)