The Senate on Tuesday passed its fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with a vote of 85-13, following an agreement last Friday to end debate on the bill. The upper chamber approved two amendments on the bill – over 600 were submitted in total – leaving the legislation largely the same as the version approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The $602 billion bill authorizes $12.9 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, including $9.2 billion for weapons activities and $1.9 billion for defense nuclear nonproliferation. Senators last week rejected two proposed amendments that would have increased both defense and non-defense spending by $18 billion.
The House version of the bill, approved on May 19, includes the additional $18 billion in funding for base budget requirements. The lower chamber’s legislation would authorize $13.3 billion for the NNSA. Both versions of the bill have been met with veto threats from the White House, in part due to President Barack Obama’s proposed plan to cancel the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project in favor of an alternative plutonium dilution and disposal method; both the Senate and House legislation direct the NNSA to continue constructing the facility.
