The NDAA itself would allocate more than $1 trillion to the Department of Defense (DoD), as well as roughly $40 billion to the Department of Energy to oversee the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal and more than $10 billion for other matters related to the military. The package also contains a provision that stipulates that service members will receive a pay raise.
Earlier this year, the President proposed increasing DoD spending to $1.5 trillion—an increase of about $600 billion from last year.
In previous years, Congress has generally approved the annual defense bill with widespread support across the political aisle. But this year, the measure has become snarled in tensions over defense spending levels and the SAVE America Act.
On the House floor on Wednesday, Smith said that many lawmakers are “trying to work in a bipartisan way.”
“But,” Smith continued, “we have to do that against the backdrop of an unbelievably partisan and in many ways out of control Administration and Department of Defense.”
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