The House Armed Services Committee has begun developing the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, but differences between Congress and the White House on defense spending levels might complicate the path toward a budget agreement.
Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), respectively the committee chairman and ranking member, last week introduced the “by request” version of the legislation, a procedural measure that marked the first step in the process, according to a HASC announcement.
The text of the legislation currently contains the Defense Department’s legislative proposals, which will be stripped out and replaced with the committee’s proposals once it meets to discuss provisions for the next fiscal year.
The Armed Services committees of both chambers of Congress are already breaking with the Donald Trump administration’s $603 billion proposal for the base defense budget in fiscal 2018. Committee Republicans say the White House proposal falls short of military readiness needs, while Democrats are speaking up against non-defense spending cuts in the administration’s budget.
HASC members in particular are pushing for $640 billion in discretionary defense funding for fiscal 2018 to address what they say are readiness shortfalls across the military. In a March 3 letter to the House Budget Committee, panel members voiced concerns with the administration’s budget request, writing “we fear it would unintentionally lock in a slow fix to readiness . . . from which we would not be able to dig out.”
Still, the Pentagon’s nuclear modernization programs would receive a significant boost under the White House proposal, particularly for the Air Force’s Long-Range Standoff nuclear cruise missile and Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile programs. The LRSO would receive $451 million, up from the program’s current $95.6 million, and the GBSD would get $216 million, up from the current $114 million – both for each program’s advanced development phase.
The higher HASC-proposed budget level would address issues with the slow pace of Navy aircraft and aircraft carrier maintenance, depleted precision guided munition stocks, equipment replacement, and deferred maintenance across the nuclear weapons enterprise, the committee’s letter said.
Congress’ specific defense funding priorities and proposals will become clearer once the Armed Services committees begin their defense authorization markup on June 28, and as Capitol Hill eventually moves on to appropriations.
The government is currently being funded by a $1 trillion omnibus appropriations bill, which gives Congress until Sept. 30 to pass its next budget, which will ultimately include defense appropriations.
