Since the !ate 1960\u27s, Congress has played a more vigorous role in examining the defense budget. It is not unusual for the authorization and appropriation committee hearings on the major programs in the defense budget to last more than 6 months. With increasing frequency \u271floor fights over particular items have extended the legislative phase of the defense budgeting cycle midway into the fiscal year. It would appear that the days when Congress rubberstamps a $70 billion defense budget in less than an hour are a thing of the past
