The Senate Armed Services Committee added an extra $45 billion to its version of President Joe Biden’s National Defense Authorization Act request.
The committee leaders announced Thursday that they had voted 23-3 to advance the NDAA for fiscal 2023, which supports a total of $857.64 billion, according to a summary of the bill the committee released. The president originally sought $813 billion, but that proposal faced scrutiny, mainly from Republicans, of being too small despite being the highest on record, in part due to record-high inflation.
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“This forward-looking NDAA invests in people, platforms, and infrastructure,” Chairman Jack Reed (D-NV) said in a statement. “It authorizes increased funding for our national defense and sets policies to equip, supply, and train U.S. forces now and in the future. It provides for military families while strengthening America’s industrial base and the workers who contribute to our national security.
“This year’s markup provides our troops and Defense Department civilians with a well-deserved 4.6 percent pay raise, as well as new tools and reforms to protect the health and well-being of our servicemembers and their families,” he added.
Specifically, the $857 billion includes $817 billion for the Department of Defense, another roughly $30 billion for the Department of Energy, and another $10 billion for defense-related activities outside NDAA jurisdiction.
The president’s initial proposal faced criticism specifically in light of the inflation situation, which has surged to record highs after the United States imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to its invasion of Ukraine, while the readout of the bill says the increase is to “address the effects of inflation and accelerate implementation of the National Defense Strategy.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin defended the president’s proposal during an appearance on Capitol Hill in early April.
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“Clearly, when we snapped the chalk line, when we built the budget, inflation was at a different point. But … this budget gives us the capability to go after that types of things that we believe we need to support our strategy,” he told the House Armed Services Committee.
The committee’s agreed-upon proposal is significantly larger than the $802 billion top line that the House Armed Services Committee is expected to propose, according to Bloomberg, a figure that is largely in line with the president’s request.
