The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) chairman said Thursday evening that he would seek to increase the defense authorization bill by at least $17 billion through an amendment he’d offer on the Senate floor next week.

Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would not disclose whether he would request additional base funding—which would likely necessitate another budget deal with Democrats—or more Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding, which is not subject to current congressionally-mandated budget caps.  Either way, the move could set up a fight in Congress between hawkish Republicans and Democrats looking to increase the spending caps for non-defense funding.

“I do not know whether or not this amendment will succeed,” McCain acknowledged during his speech at the Brookings Institution. “But the Senate must have this debate, and senators must choose a side. “

The military remains underfunded even with the boost to base and OCO accounts agreed to in last year’s Bipartisan Budget Act, he said. Adding about $17 billion could help reverse cuts to modernization and readiness and reinstate funding levels in 2017 to the amount the Department of Defense planned for last year.

Part of that would help prevent Army end strength from being cut that year, he said.

SASC aides have said that the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), could be onboard McCain’s amendment but would want to see a boost in funding for non-defense as well.

McCain said he would be supportive of spending increases for agencies such as the CIA and the director of national intelligence, which are important for national security but not part of the NDAA. However, he stopped short of recommending a similar hike for Democrat priorities like the departments of education and transportation.

Even after getting Senate lawmakers onboard, McCain will have to convince his counterpart on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), to adopt his funding scheme. The House on Wednesday passed their own version of the NDAA, which contains an $18 billion in the OCO account that is actually used to pay for base expenses. 

That would leave OCO short of the money needed to fund operations through the entire fiscal year, with the account running dry in April 2017. Thornberry has said he hopes the next president would then ask for supplemental funds, in essence increasing defense without having to make any changes to the current budget deal.