The Senate is poised to adopt the proposed $886.3 billion fiscal year 2024 defense budget next week before sending the massive appropriations package to the House floor for approval and on to President Joe Biden’s desk by year’s end.
The 3,093-page Pentagon spending plan, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), earmarks $841.5 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD)—nearly $32 billion, or 3 percent, more than the fiscal year 2023 NDAA—$32.26 billion for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and $12.1 billion in defense-related allocations for other federal agencies.
Included is a 5.2 percent pay raise for uniformed service members, boosted funding for the U.S. Navy to build 10 surface warships—most notably an amphibious warship the Marine Corps lobbied for but the Navy did not request—and 13 Virginia class attack submarines over the next five years, instead of the proposed 10, increased funding for retaining F-15s and F-16s, and initiatives to counter China in the Pacific, Russia in Europe, and aid Israel in the Middle East….
