The upcoming fiscal year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) overcame one of its major hurdles last week, advancing out of the Senate Armed Services Committee after consideration of 433 amendments and the adoption of 223.
Committee markup and approval is the first big step to set defense funding levels and policies for the U.S. Departments of Defense (DoD) and Energy (DOE) national security programs. Following the 23-3 vote from the committee, the bill will head to the Senate floor, where it will be debated and ultimately voted on by the full Senate while a separate measure winds through the House. After both have been approved, they will be reconciled by a bicameral committee and approved again by each chamber.
“This forward-looking NDAA invests in people, platforms, and infrastructure,” U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said. “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. The bill provides critical support for our allies and partners in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region and addresses other persistent threats around the globe. It strengthens our offensive and defensive cyber capabilities and accelerates research and development of advanced technologies like hypersonics and artificial intelligence that will give our forces critical advantages.”
This year’s bill was also officially named the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, in honor of U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Inhofe intends to retire at the end of his current term.
“The Senate Armed Services Committee just took a critical next step toward enacting a National Defense Authorization Act for the 62nd year in a row,” Inhofe said. “This markup was bittersweet because it’s my last after 27 years as a member of this committee. As this committee has always done for as long as I can remember, we came together in a bipartisan way to build a strong bill. We were able to strengthen national security in the face of unprecedented threats, including from China and Russia, and take care of our troops and their families, who sacrifice so much. It’s not the bill I would have written on my own, but it’s a good bill that deserves and has rightfully earned broad support.”
The bill would boost the defense budget by $45 billion, though this has earned its share of criticism. A separate bill in the House, the People Over Pentagon Act, seeks a $100 billion cut from the defense budget.