President Trump on Monday signed the National Defense Authorization Act to approve a defense budget of $717 billion for fiscal year 2019 and a 2.6 percent pay increase for military personnel.
The massive spending package, named after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a former Navy fighter pilot who has spent the summer battling brain cancer back home, contains billions of dollars for the expansion of military infrastructure and equipment, in addition to funding for the continued development of artificial intelligence abilities.
“This authorization will give American war-fighters the firepower they need to win any conflict quickly and decisively,” Trump said during remarks at Fort Drum in New York. “We will replace aging tents, aging planes, and ships with the most advanced and lethal technology every developed.”
Congress approved the legislation earlier this month, allowing the Pentagon to approve the addition of thousands of new troops and a pay raise for active-duty service members. The funding will kick in Sept. 1 and fund the military through next year.
“I am grateful for the strong commitment of members on both sides of the aisle to pass this year’s NDAA in record time,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement at the time of the bill’s passage. “Together, they have demonstrated the deep and abiding bipartisan support our military enjoys.”
The defense bill, which also bars the U.S. from providing F-35 fighter jets to NATO member Turkey, comes just days after Trump doubled tariffs against the country over its plans to purchase a Russian missile defense system.
Trump on Monday said the NDAA was relatively easy to get through Congress and signals the U.S. is “on the move once again and we are not backing down.”
“We are the most powerful. We are the best funded. We are the biggest, we are the strongest, [and] we are the smartest,” the president said.
