The Senate on Thursday passed a $700 billion defense policy bill for 2018, clearing the last hurdle for the legislation on Capitol Hill and sending it to President Trump for his signature.
The National Defense Authorization Act directs hikes in military hardware and the number of troops well above Trump’s request, as well as a raft of reforms. But the spending would overstep legal limits set on defense spending for the coming year by more than $80 billion.
Trump has lauded the bill despite the increases in aircraft, ships, and troops beyond what the White House and Pentagon proposed in May. The House passed the NDAA bill in a 356-70 vote on Tuesday before the voice vote in the Senate.
“We are massively increasing our military budget to historic levels,” Trump said Wednesday. “The House has just passed a nearly $700 billion defense package, and it could not come at a better time for our nation.”
The bill authorizes $634.2 billion in base defense spending but cannot be fully funded unless Congress strikes a deal to lift a $549 billion cap for 2018, and time is running out as a current stopgap budget measure passed in September is set to expire Dec. 8.
An additional $65.7 billion for overseas military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere is exempt from the limit.
Trump’s military would get 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighters, 24 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets, and 14 new Navy ships, including three littoral combat ships built by Lockheed Martin and Austal USA.
The NDAA also authorizes $12.3 billion for missile defense including a $4 billion supplemental request by the administration, partly to counter growing threats from North Korea, and reforms to how the Air Force handles military space operations.
