The House on Thursday passed the final $858 billion version of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with a bipartisan 350 to 80 vote.
The annual defense policy legislation now heads over to the Senate, which is likely to vote on the bill next week.
“This bill represents compromise after months of hard work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress. Whatever our disagreements may be, there’s a lot to be proud of in this bill. As this legislation moves to the Senate, I thank my colleagues across the House and Senate Armed Services Committees for their thoughtful contributions to this agreement and its two underlying bills. I look forward to the swift passage of H.R. 7776 by the Senate and its signature by President Biden,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement following the bill’s passage.
The final version of the FY ‘23 NDAA was rolled out on Tuesday evening after the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees spent the last few months hashing out differences between the two chambers’ versions of the bill.
The House ultimately approved the FY ‘23 under suspension of the rules, which required a two-thirds majority to pass the legislation, with 174 Democrats joining 176 Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.
The compromise legislation includes a $45 billion topline increase and a provision that would allow the Pentagon to buy select critical munitions using multi-year contracts (Defense Daily, Dec. 7).
Overall, the final FY ‘23 NDAA would authorize $817 billion for the Pentagon, a significant increase from the White House’s requested topline of $773 billion, as well as $30.3 billion for national security programs within the Department of Energy.
The bill authorizes $163 billion for procurement and $139 billion for research and development efforts, up from the budget request’s call for $146 billion and $130 billion, respectively.
The final version of the bill also retains the Navy’s nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile program, authorizing $25 million for its continued development, after the Biden administration sought to end the effort.