ARTICLE - U.S. National Defense Authorization Act 2024
Congress passes $886 billion defense policy bill, Biden to sign into law: The bill includes a four-month extension of Section 702, a controversial surveillance authority, giving lawmakers more time to either reform or keep the program.
Dec. 14, 2023, 11:37 AM EST / Source: Reuters
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/congress-passes-886-billion-defense-policy-bill-biden-sign-law-rcna129755
WASHINGTON — More than two-thirds of the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a defense policy bill on Thursday that includes a record $886 billion in annual military spending and AUTHORIZES POLICIES SUCH AS AID TO UKRAINE and push back against China in the Indo-Pacific.
The House backed the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, by 310 to 118, with strong support from Republicans and Democrats. It was more than the two-thirds majority required to pass the measure and send it to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into law.
Separate from the appropriations bills that set government spending levels, the NDAA authorizes everything from pay raises for troops — this year’s will be 5.2% — to purchases of ships, ammunition and aircraft.
Because it is one of the few major pieces of legislation that becomes law every year, members of Congress use it as a vehicle for a wide range of initiatives. It is also closely watched by major defense companies, such as Lockheed Martin, RTX Corp and other firms that receive Department of Defense contracts.
The vote for this year’s bill, which is nearly 3,100 pages long and authorizes a record $886 billion, up 3% from last year, meant that Congress has passed an NDAA for 63 straight years.
The final version of the NDAA left out provisions addressing divisive social issues, such as access to abortion and treatment of transgender service members, that had been included in the version passed by the Republican-majority House over the objections of Democrats, threatening to derail the legislation.
The Democratic-controlled Senate backed the NDAA, also with a strong bipartisan majority — 87 to 13 — on Wednesday.
The fiscal 2024 NDAA also includes a four-month extension of a disputed domestic surveillance authority, giving lawmakers more time to either reform or keep the program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).