The House Armed Services Committee filed a new bill to serve as the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 on Tuesday afternoon that provides $521 billion in base discretionary budget spending and $63.7 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations account.
Chief among the negotiations between the House and Senate armed services committees–the full House had already voted to pass the HASC version, whereas the full Senate hasn’t had a chance to weigh in on the SASC’s version–were how to handle the Pentagon’s requests to increase Tricare pharmacy co-pays and trim spending on basic allowance for housing. The House rejected the Pentagon’s cost-saving efforts in the hopes of tackling a more comprehensive reform once the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission makes its recommendations in February, whereas the Senate agreed to them to free up money for much-needed modernization, research and development and other accounts.
The compromise was to implement only the first year’s portion of the reforms without approving the full Tricare and BAH changes the administration wanted, according to a senior SASC staffer who spoke to reporters on Tuesday on background.
The two committees had several differences to work out regarding platform retention and procurement. A senior HASC staffer, speaking at the same briefing, said both bills prohibited the retirement of the Air Force’s A-10 Warthog close-air support plane, but the Senate also included a provision that prohibited a reduction in flying hours and maintenance for the aircraft. The Air Force expressed serious concerns that this measure would hurt their ability to properly maintain other aircraft in the fleet, so the HASC and SASC decided that if the secretary of defense ordered a study that found the Air Force needed relief from the maintenance reduction prohibition, the Air Force could lower the flying status of up to 36 aircraft to free up maintenance funds for other aircraft.
The SASC staffer said the bill provides an additional $350 million for A-10 retention, and if the defense secretary ultimately recommends that some A-10s be put in reduced status, the Pentagon would have to go through the normal reprogramming process to move any of that $350 million into other accounts.
The SASC staffer also described a compromise on the issue of retiring Army helicopters and swapping platforms between the active component and the National Guard. The bill includes a prohibition on retiring helicopters during FY ’15, and it prohibits the Army from moving more than 48 AH-64 Apaches from the Guard to the active Army before a commission–which the bill calls for–makes its recommendations. Similar to the Tricare and housing issue, the staffer said the congressional committees did not want to step out in front of the issue before independent panels–in this case, the commission and the Government Accountability Office–could be heard. Letting the Army make some changes without taking irreversible steps seemed the best middle ground, the staffer said.
The compromise bill also takes the Senate’s approach to the Navy’s request to lay up half its cruiser fleet for extended maintenance periods, which would save significant funding on manpower and operations. The House rejected the request altogether, whereas the Senate opted to allow the Navy to lay up just two cruisers a year instead of 11 all at once. The HASC staffer said the compromise bill allows two cruisers to be laid up in FY ’15 only and does not authorize any action in future years like the Navy wanted.
The SASC staffer said that some of these one-year-only actions were a function of wanting to wait for commission reports to come through before making decisions. On others like the cruisers, though, the staffer said some lawmakers were still hopeful that sequestration’s FY ’16 return could be averted. If Congress can find a budget deal to avoid sequester, these cuts would no longer be necessary, so some lawmakers are reluctant to agree to them just yet.
The bill also authorizes $350 million more than DoD requested for EA-18G Growlers for the Navy, funding for three Littoral Combat Ships in FY ’15 instead of the two the HASC originally wanted, and incremental funding authority and $800 million for the procurement of a 12th San Antonio-class LPD amphibious transport dock ship, the staffers said.
The HASC staffer added that the bill includes a modified provision regarding the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine. Any engines already under contract before Russia invaded Crimea may be used, but no more may be purchased after the invasion. That leaves 14 RD-180 engines that can be used to compete for launches, the staffer said, which adds more competition to these awards without rewarding Russia for its bad behavior. The bill also includes $220 million for development of an American-made replacement engine.
According to the staffers, the House will vote on the bill this week, likely under a closed rule that would prevent lawmakers from making any amendments. The bill would then be sent to the Senate in a message to reduce the number of votes needed before the legislation can be considered on the floor. The Senate will ask for unanimous consent that the bill be passed, but it is unlikely that that will be agreed to. The bill will then be up for floor debate, but senators, too, will not be allowed to make amendments.
The HASC staffer said “I don’t think we see any issues in the House at all” in terms of getting the bill passed this week. The SASC staffer, however, said “we think we have enough votes to pass it, but life in the Senate is always difficult.”