WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators passed a defense spending bill June 11 that would kill President Barack Obama's signature counterterrorism training program amid criticism that it's too broad to do any good.
The Defense Department is seeking $2.1 billion for the so-called Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund, which aims to facilitate partnerships and "provide the flexibility to respond to a range of terrorist threats and crisis response scenarios." Lawmakers, however, balked at funding what they consider an ill-defined program that they would have trouble properly overseeing.