A billion here, a billion there, etc.

There may be a door opening to opponents of military adventurism and unbridled military spending. Politico says that House Armed Services ranking Democrat Adam Smith from Seattle is poised to take over as chairman and likely give the Pentagon some heartburn.

The Washington state congressman has often decried his fellow lawmakers for ducking tough choices on the defense budget and big ticket military programs and has said he'll take a skeptical eye to historically high military spending enacted by Republicans over the past two years.

He's also made clear he'll beef up the panel's oversight of U.S. military operations abroad, including our support for the Saudi-led coalition battering Yemen, and work to roll back Trump's plans to modernize and expand the nuclear arsenal.

Stay tuned.