House, Senate negotiators agree to add $45B to Biden’s defense budget

An emerging compromise on annual defense policy legislation will endorse a $45 billion increase to President Joe Biden’s defense spending plans, according to four people familiar with the negotiations.

The deal would set the budget topline of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act at $847 billion for national defense, and would go as high as $858 billion when including programs that fall outside of the jurisdiction of the Senate and House Armed Services committees. The level mirrors the increased budget approved by Senate Armed Services in June.

The people familiar with the talks were granted anonymity to describe details of legislation that hasn’t been finalized. Spokespeople for the committees did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Though the major bill is still in the late stages of negotiations, lawmakers are poised to deliver a second straight bipartisan rebuke to the Biden administration’s defense spending plans. The White House sought $802 billion for national defense programs in its fiscal 2023 budget.

House and Senate Armed Services leaders in both parties and their staffs have been ironing out differences in their version of the defense policy bill for months to pave the way for a compromise to pass before the end of the year.

The chairs and top Republicans of the two committees have largely resolved their differences and have handed the bill off to House and Senate leadership to deal with issues outside the panels’ jurisdiction that could be attached to the legislation.

Lawmakers are aiming to have an NDAA ready for a vote in the House next week. From there it would go to the Senate and, if approved, would head to the White House for Biden's signature.

Negotiators have been tight-lipped on how they resolved the topline. But a compromise was destined to endorse a national defense budget that is tens of billions more than Biden sought after Democrats and Republicans in both chambers backed large increases on the premise of addressing high inflation and keeping pace with China.

"With inflation factored in, it is a good increase but it's essential because of inflation and also the need to continue significant programs," Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said in an interview, though he did not specify what amount the panels agreed upon.

If Congress moves ahead with a $45 billion increase to Biden’s budget, it would mirror the topline of the Senate Armed Services-approved defense bill. The panel voted overwhelmingly over the summer to authorize an extra $45 billion on top of the administration’s budget, for a total of $847 billion.

House Armed Services, meanwhile, approved a $37 billion increase to its version of the bill to bring the total to $839 billion.

Though the increase to the NDAA topline is a significant showing of bipartisan support for more defense spending, lawmakers still need to pass an appropriations package to fund the Pentagon for the rest of the fiscal year.

A current funding patch runs out on Dec. 16 and congressional appropriators haven’t yet reached a deal.

Still, there will be at least some resistance to the defense bill when an agreement emerges. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy charged Democrats with focusing too much on "wokeism" over national security issues and has called for the bill to be delayed until Republicans take over in January, though that play hasn't gained much traction.

In the Senate, 13 Republicans are threatening to oppose advancing the bill unless they receive a vote to undo the administration's military vaccine mandate. They want to bar DoD from kicking out troops solely because they don't receive the shot and reinstate personnel who have been drummed out with back pay.

"While the Department of Defense certainly must make decisions that will bolster military readiness, the effects of the mandate are antithetical to [the] readiness of our force, and the policy must be revoked," the senators argued in a letter to GOP leadership.

Those senators alone cannot block the bill's passage, though they could delay the process as Congress aims to complete several major bills in the coming weeks.