Defense Appropriations and Authorization Bills

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Hse Sub. Members – Hearings Sched/Archives  |  Sen Sub.Members – Hearings Sched Archives

FY 2019 House Defense Appropriations Action:
Subcomm:  6/7/18:  approved | Draft Bill | R-Sum
Full Comm:  6/13/18: approved Defense 48-4 | HR 6157 | Rpt-769 | R-Stmt | D-Stmt
Floor:  6/28/18: Passed |359-49| HR 6157 | R-Stmt | D-Stmt | Stmt of Admin Policy (SAP)

FY 2019 Senate Defense Appropriations Action:
Subcomm:  6/26/18: approved | R-Sum | D-Sum
Full Comm:  6/28/18: approved 30-1 | S.3159 | Rpt-290 | R-Sum | D-Sum
Floor: 8/23: Senate approved Defense-LHHS minibus Vote: 85-7 | Text: HR 6157 Senate-passed | R-Stmt | D-Stmt |  Action on amendments | SAP | Defense Rpt-290 | LHHS Rpt-289  

FY 2019 Conference Action on Defense Appropriations:
Conf. Report:  DoD-LHHS Conference Report  (HR 6157) | Jt Stm | Res. to Correct Enrollment (S.Con.Res.47) | Hse-R-DoD-Sum | H-R-LHHS Sum | Hse-D-Sum | Sen-R-Sum | Sen-D-DoD-Sum | Sen-D-LHHS-Sum 
Senate:  Tues, 9/18:  DoD-LHHS Conf. Rpt. adopted 93-7 | R-Stmt | D-Stmt | Res. to Correct Enrollment (S.Con.Res.47) 
House:  Wed, 9/26:  DoD-LHHS Conf. Rpt. adopted 361-61 | R-Stmt | D-Stmt | Res. to Correct Enrollment (S.Con.Res.47) 
President:  Fri, 9/28:  President signed DoD-LHHS-CR Bill (HR 6157) | WH Stmt | PL 115-245

LINK TO UPDATED 2018 SENATE-HOUSE CALENDAR   

Total Defense Appropriations consists of:
(1) Amounts appropriated under the statutory Defense/Security Cap of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (as modified by the Bipartisan Budget Acts of 2013, ’15, and ’18); and
(2) additional amounts (close to $70b) appropriated “outside” the caps for “Overseas Contingency Operations.” Although OCO funding is intended to be war-related (hence the exemption from the annual spending caps), the funding provided for OCO includes some amounts intended to be used for regular activities of the DoD according to a 2018 GAO report.

FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
Defense is one of the few areas where the authorization bill — developed by the House Armed Services Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee — provides funding levels for programs and projects with specificity.  Appropriations.com therefore tracks the Defense Authorization Bill:

FY 2019 House NDAA Action:
Full Comm:  H.Rpt. 115-676  
Floor:  5/24/18: Passed 351-66 | HR.5515

FY 2019 Senate NDAA Action:
Full Comm:  S.Rpt. 115-262 
Floor: 6/18/18: Passed 85-10 | Senate amendment to HR 5515 

FY 2019 Conference Action on NDAA:
Conf. Report:  7/23/18:  Conference Agreement reached on John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) | Conf Rpt-874 | Jt Stmt REV  | Summary of Changes in the Revised Conference Report | House-Summary | Senate Summary
House Approval: 7/26: Hse Passed 359-54 
Senate Approval:  8/1: Sen Passed 87-10
President’s Approval:  8/13 Signed

Note: There are sometimes vigorous policy and funding disagreements between the defense authorizing and appropriations committees, which sometimes are settled only by which bill — the authorizing bill or the appropriations bill — is enacted later in time.

CRS funding  summaries: 

• FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act – An Overview of H.R. 5515, as Reported
• DOD Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) Appropriations Structure
• FY 2018 Defense Appropriations Act: An Overview 
• FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 
• Overseas Contingency Operations Funding: Background and Status
• Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills_ FY 1961-FY 2018
• Defense Primer- Defense Appropriations Process

CBO: Prospects for DoD’s Budget Over the Next Decade  Feb 2018

Administration Defense Requests:
2019 | 2018 | 2017 |2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

The Defense bill funds the following agencies:
Department of Defense (See also Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies)
-Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD)
-Defense Finance and Accounting Service
-Defense Intelligence Agency (DOD)
-Defense Investigative Service (DOD)
-Defense Logistics Agency (DOD)
-Department of the Air Force
-Department of the Army
-Department of the Navy
–Marine Corps
-Missile Defense Agency (DOD)
-National Geospatial and Intelligence Agency (DOD)
-National Guard and Reserve Components (DOD)
-National Security Agency (DOD)
-U.S. Court of Military Appeals (DOD)
Uniformed Services University of the Health Services
Central Intelligence Agency
Defense Security and Cooperation Agency
National Reconnaissance Office
North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
Uniformed Services University of the Health Services

In most respects House and Senate appropriations subcommittee jurisdictions are parallel.

Contact FBG for appropriations research, analysis, drafting, and expert guidance:
Email:  help@www.govbudget.com |
Phone:  +1 (202) 419-3506 |

Historical Database – Defense: 

Open a document below, press the Ctrl + F buttons, and enter relevant terms to locate the
bill or report provisions you need; or contact us and we’ll be happy to do the research for you.

Omnibus:  all (or most) regular appropriations bills packaged together.
Minibus:  several regular appropriations bills packaged together.
CR:  continues agency funding at a particular level–often the previous year–without detailed appropriations.
Cromnibus:  a CR for some agencies and detailed appropriations for others.

Note on Joint Statements:  In many cases, (House-Senate) joint explanatory statements on omnibus appropriations bills are printed only in the Congressional Record–which is impossible to read on mobile devices.  In those cases, we have uploaded House Rules Committee PDFs. 

Please note:  When you click on the links below, the bill your browser opens may not be what you expect, because the appropriations language you need has been included by the Committee in a bill with an unrelated title.  For example, LHHS appropriations might be included in a bill titled Mil-Con-VA.  Rest assured, you have opened the correct document; simply proceed to the relevant “title” or “division” of the bill.  If you need assistance, contact us at help@www.govbudget.com.

Defense: Nonpartisan Reports on Major Issues

• LINK HERE to all CBO Reports on the Defense Budget. 
  • Recent CBO reports: 
  • Prospects for DoD’s Budget Over the Next Decade  Feb 2018
  • Analysis: Long-Term Costs of the Administration’s Goals for the Military  Dec 2017
  • Approaches for Managing the Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2017 to 2046  Oct 2017
  • Trends in the Department of Defense’s Support Costs  Oct 2017
  • An Analysis of the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2017 Shipbuilding Plan  Feb 2017
  • Projected Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2017 to 2026  Feb 2017
  • Trends in Spending by DoD for Operation and Maintenance  Jan 2017
  • The U.S. Military’s Force Structure – A Primer  July 2016
  • Long-Term Implications of the 2016 Future Years Defense Program  Jan 2016
  • Replacing Military Personnel in Support Positions With Civilians  Dec 2015
  • Preserving the Navy’s Forward Presence With a Smaller Fleet  March 2015
• Collection of CRS Reports on National Security Topics
• Collection of CRS Reports on Intelligence and Related Topics
• Collection of CRS Reports on Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control
• Collection of CRS Reports on Conventional Weapons Systems
• CBO: Long-Term Implications of Future Years Defense Program (back to 2003)
• CBO: Analysis of the Navy’s Shipbuilding Plan (back to Apr 2005)
• CBO: Projected Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces (back to Dec 2013)
• NATO: Article 5 Obligations – Background
• SIPRI:  U.S. Defense Spending compared to other nations
• PolitiFact:  U.S. Defense Spending compared to other nations
• CRS: NATO Burdensharing (2012 Report)
• CBO: construction costs to build a fleet of 355 ships would average $26.6 billion (in 2017 dollars) per year over the next 30 years
• CBO: Growth in DoD Budget 2000 to 2014
• CRS: Defense Spending Under a CR
• CRS: FY 2017 Defense Budget Request, Authorization, Appropriations
• CRS: Defense Quadrennial Review
• CRS: Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills FY1970-FY2017

Two Perspectives on Total Defense Spending:

U.S. Defense Spending as % of GDP: 1960 – 2016

       (move cursor over the graph for annual data)