The House Appropriations Committee plans to adhere to the $895 billion defense spending cap imposed by last year’s debt limit deal as it looks to begin marking up fiscal year 2025 spending bills, the panel’s chair announced.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the HAC chair, on Thursday released the draft spending toplines ahead of subcommittee markups, which includes $832.9 billion for the Pentagon and nearly $18 billion for military construction.
“In the face of an aggressive schedule and fiscal constraints, we will demonstrate responsible governance and safeguard hard-earned tax dollars. The bills written by this committee will adhere to law set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act—with no side deals—and focus resources where they are needed most. Our FY ‘25 process will reflect our commitment to strengthening our national defense, supporting the safety and security of the American people, and reining in government to its core mission,” Cole said in a statement.
Last year’s debt limit deal and the Fiscal Responsibility Act locked in a one percent increase in FY ‘25 for defense and non-defense toplines.
The Pentagon in March rolled out its $849.8 billion FY ‘25 budget submission, which includes MilCon spending, with the topline adhering to the spending cap, while department officials noted that figure is about $10 billion below the originally projected topline (Defense Daily, March 11).
HAC’s Defense Subcommittee is set to mark up its spending bill on June 5, before the full committee considers the legislation on June 13.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the Senate’s top defense appropriator, said last week the Pentagon will require a “bigger number” for its FY ‘25 topline than the nearly $850 billion requested and cautioned the imposed spending cap could hinder modernization efforts (Defense Daily, May 8).
“The [Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee] Ranking Member [Susan] Collins (R-Maine) and myself think we need a bigger number. And the reason for that, and you know this better than I, is because if we’re going to invest in future technologies, this number has to be bigger,” Tester, the panel’s chair, said during a hearing.
The House Armed Services Committee on Monday released its roughly $895 billion draft version of the next National Defense Authorization Act, with the topline adhering to the one percent spending cap (Defense Daily, May 13).
HASC Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) had signaled his panel would put forth an FY ‘25 NDAA that supported a topline at the “hand dealt to us” by last year’s Fiscal Responsibility Act, while efforts to boost funding levels are likely to follow in the committee’s upcoming markup.
“The one percent increase it proposes is entirely inadequate. It’s actually a two percent cut when you factor in inflation. But this is the hand dealt to us by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. As we move into markup of the FY ‘25 NDAA, we will play the hand dealt to us. But we all need to understand the risk to our national security that this level of investment presents,” Rogers said during an April 30 HASC hearing.
The annual NDAA, which is set to be considered by HASC before the end of May, sets policies and directives while congressional appropriators will ultimately set final funding levels.