The fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes $3.2 billion more for defense spending than the president’s budget request, a move that could draw criticism from both Democrats and the White House since there is no sign of a comparable increase for non-defense spending.
The compromise bill, which will be introduced in the House on Wednesday, is the result of months of work by the conference committee and has a topline of $618.7 billion, including $67.8 billion in an overseas contingency operations account. When taking into account the president’s supplemental $5.8 billion request for defense, that is $3.2 billion more than the president has asked for in fiscal 2017.
A senior armed services committee aide said that’s the only obvious provision in the bill that could still draw a presidential veto, since there are no plans to boost non-defense spending, something Democrats have required in the past to approve of a boost to spending on the military.
“That’s something Democratic senators are mulling over,” the aide said.
The House is expected to take up the bill on Friday, and Senate work is expected sometime next week, aides said.
Here are some of the other highlights in the bill, according to senior armed services committee aids:
- Troops will get a 2.1 percent pay raise, up from 1.6 percent in the president’s request.
- While the House bill included a higher number of F-35s, the final bill does not include those extra numbers and funds the joint strike fighter at the president’s request. That means the bill includes funding for 63 F-35s. Seventy lawmakers sent a letter to negotiators this year asking the conference to committee to include funding for 74 jets, which was the House plan, in the final bill.
- Negotiators agreed to boost the active duty end strength of the Army, Air Force and Marines beyond what the president asked for. The Army will grow to 476,000, 16,000 more soldiers than Obama wanted in fiscal 2017. The Air Force will gain 4,000 airmen beyond the president’s request for an active end strength of 321,000. And the Marines will increase in size from the president’s request of 182,000 to 185,000. An aide said negotiators opted to spend on end strength rather than on boosting procurement because of the time it takes to buy back end strength. Lawmakers, however, will have another shot to increase the number of platforms the military buys when Congress passes a budget early next year.
- The final bill does not include the controversial Russell Amendment, which Democrats criticized for using tax dollars to fund hiring discrimination based on religion, sexuality or gender but Republicans said contained important religious liberty protections for those who do business with the federal government. Republicans agreed to leave the language out of the final bill because “new paths have opened up to address those issues” because of Trump’s election. An aide said lawmakers will pursue those paths instead.
- It restructures the Pentagon’s acquisition shop, creating an undersecretary focused on research and engineering and an undersecretary focused on acquisition and support. An aide said there is also a possible third position that would focus on the defense business enterprise. The change will allow the Trump administration to hire for these new positions and keep those skillsets in mind when filling the cabinet.
- The Government Accountability Office sill be required to conduct “close” surveillance of the long-range strike bomber acquisition program to alert Congress early about any delays or cost overruns.
- The follow-on modernization for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 was not separated from the main acquisition program as a separate major defense program, but “enhanced reporting requirements” have been placed on it. Some wanted the modernization to be its own program because it was as expensive as past major defense acquisition programs.
- The sage grouse does not make an appearance in the bill, meaning it will not be designated as an endangered species, which could have impacted military training exercises at bases in the western U.S. where the bird lives.
- Women are not required to register for the draft, but the final bill does require a study to take a broader look at the Selective Service as a whole and whether it is still needed. The Senate’s version of the bill would have required women to register with the Selective Service, while the House-passed legislation did not.
- The bill boosts U.S. Cyber Command to be its own combatant command, taking it out of U.S. Strategic Command. It also requires the Pentagon to establish conditions for what would need to happen if the dual hat between U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Administration is split, like how shared infrastructure will be handled.
- The president’s National Security Council will be capped at 200 people, but the advisor will not require Senate confirmation.
- The bill authorized an additional 1,500 visas for Afghan interpreters who worked with U.S. troops to come to the United States, but revised eligibility requirements to give “preference to those serving outside the wire,” an aide said.
- All of the Guantanamo Bay transfer restrictions in the fiscal 2016 bill have been extended for another year, including the ban on transferring detainees to the U.S.
- The bill authorized the Air Force to use 18 RD-180 Russian rocket engines to get to space while the U.S. is developing its own alternative.
- The bill “captured the process” that the Pentagon is using to review California National Guard soldiers who were erroneously paid bonuses to ensure continuity as the administration changes over. It also will require the Pentagon to review all California bonus cases without soldiers asking for an appeal.
