SENATE KICKS DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION TO SEPTEMBER

The Senate will recess for August before considering the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, kicking consideration of the $923.3 billion defense measure bill to September. The Senate version of the Act would increase the authorization by $25 billion. 

The defense policy bill is a must-pass bill because it directly affects the amount of money federal agencies can spend for environmental cleanup of defense sites and other nuclear activities.

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the defense authorization in June, the same month that the House passed its version of the Act, H.R. 8070, their measure headlining at $895 billion. Click here to see the report on that bill. If the Senate fails to approve its own version of the defense authorization, it will initiate informal negotiations with the House to work on a final bill to send to the president. 

This has occurred in past years and may occur this year as well. Conference negotiations likely would not take place until December, not only because that is when various Pentagon policies expire, but also because it would be after this year’s general election in November.

In related news, the Senate’s Energy and Water Appropriations Bill underwent its full committee earlier markup today. To see a recording of the broadcast, click here.

ECA will continue to provide updates on the appropriations and defense authorization processes. For more information on those processes, visit our website.