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Pride is supposed to be a time for celebration, but there was palpable tension Monday at the annual Defense Department Pride event as LGBT civilians and members of the armed forces recognized the occasion. The event — hosted by DOD Pride, an affinity group for LGBT Pentagon employees — has been held each year within the Defense Department since 2011 when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal was certifie... Read more »

Senior leaders at the Pentagon are distancing themselves from the Defense Department’s annual LGBT Pride Month celebrations, declining to formally acknowledge the observances for the first time since the practice became routine after President Barack Obama repealed the military’s ban on homosexuals serving openly. The absence this year of an official Pentagon memo marking LGBT Pride Month has rais... Read more »

During Teacher Appreciation Week, Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) and 35 cosponsors put forth the Educators Expense Deduction Modernization Act, which would index the educator tax deduction to inflation and increase it from $250 to $500. Read more »

(Reuters) - Ninety-four percent of U.S. public school teachers spend their own money on classroom supplies without reimbursement, according to a Department of Education survey on Tuesday that follows protests by educators who are asking for more pay and funding. Teachers in the 2014-15 school year on average spent $479 out of their own pockets on such supplies as chalk, pencils and construction pa... Read more »

Pencils, pens, crayons, construction paper, T-shirts, snacks and, sometimes, a pair of shoes: The costs add up for public school teachers who reach into their own pockets for classroom supplies, ensuring their students have the necessities of learning. Nearly all teachers are footing the bill for classroom supplies, an Education Department report found, and teachers in high-poverty schools spend more than those in affluent schools. Read more »

Congressman Anthony G. Brown (D-MD) introduced legislation last week that would increase the current deduction available to educators from $250 to $500. Read more »

Today, Congressman Anthony G. Brown (MD-04) and 35 co-sponsors introduced the Educators Expense Deduction Modernization Act, that would increase the current deduction available to educators from $250 to $500, and index it to inflation. Read more »

THE TOPLINE: The House Armed Services Committee early Thursday morning easily passed its $716 billion defense policy bill for fiscal 2019. The committee's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed, 60-1, after more than 14 hours of debate. It now moves to the full House for a vote later this month. Read more »

CAPITOL HILL: He had to fight for it, but a stripped-down version of House Armed Services chair Mac Thornberry’s proposal to slash a major component of the Pentagon’s civilian bureaucracy survived the first debate over the 2019 defense budget. The charge to take Thornberry’s cuts to the Fourth Estate was led in part by Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown, who sponsored a series of amendments to save big chunks of the back office and support services that Thornberry was targeting. While most of Brown’s attempts failed, Thornberry gave in to criticism over his call to eliminate the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Washington Headquarters Service, instead deciding to leave any such cuts up to the Pentagon’s chief management officer. Read more »

ABOUT LAST NIGHT — HASC APPROVES NDAA: The House Armed Services Committee voted 60 to 1 to advance its version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to the full House. As in previous years, the lone vote against the bill came from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii). Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), who didn't attend the markup after winning a primary Tuesday, was the only HASC member who didn't vote. Read more »