President Barack Obama on Tuesday started his day by pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey. Later that afternoon, he gave defense hawks something to be grateful for when he signed the fiscal year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act into law.
The $599 billion bill—which, together with other parts of the budget, amounts to a total $607 billion for defense—authorizes spending for a host of the Pentagon’s most important procurement priorities, from the F-35 to the new Ford-class aircraft carrier, and contains an array of reforms to the weapons buying process.
Obama vetoed the NDAA in October because Congress inflated the wartime spending account, also known as Overseas Contingency Operations, to fund items usually in the military’s base budget. The tactic allowed Republicans to grow defense spending without having to come to a deal with Democrats to lift mandatory budget caps that impact both defense and nondefense discretionary spending.
In November, the president and congressional leaders agreed to lift the caps in 2016 and 2017 for both defense and nondefense, but the deal only allows for $607 billion to be spent on defense this year —$5 billion less than requested the president’s budget and authorized in the initial NDAA.
Since then, the NDAA has been revised to meet the specifications of the budget deal. Weapons programs were not immune when lawmakers made $5 billion in cuts, which affected programs such as the MQ-9 Reaper and long range strike bomber. All policy provisions have remained the same (Defense Daily, Nov. 3)
In a statement issued by the White House following the signing of the legislation, Obama defended his choice to veto it in October, saying it “failed to authorize funding for our national defense in a fiscally responsible manner.”
That answer wasn’t good enough for congressional Republicans, who immediately took the president to task for his initial veto.
“The policies in the bill the president signed today are identical to the policies he vetoed on Oct. 22,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas). “The only difference is this bill authorizes $5 billion less for our military. Given recent events, we may all wish we had that $5 billion back to help protect the country.”