Members of the House and Senate were set to formally kick off final negotiations for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee announced.
The leaders of the two chambers’ Armed Services Committees were set to appear briefly in public in the Senate Dirksen Office Building on Wednesday before moving to a closed-door meeting with other lawmakers to attempt to meld two separate National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) into one.
The annual bill sets spending limits for defense programs at the Pentagon and nuclear weapons programs at the Department of Energy. Appropriations for the Department of Defense run through Feb. 2. Appropriations at DoE run through Jan. 29.
The Republican-controlled House passed its $886 billion version of the NDAA in mid-July (Defense Daily, July 14). In late July, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed its own $886 billion version of the bill (Defense Daily, July 28). The House’s version of the bill contains conservative policies about abortion and diversity training, among others, that Democrats in the Senate do not support.
For DoE’s defense nuclear programs, both the House and Senate NDAAs would authorize close to what the Biden administration requested.
Under the Senate NDAA, the National Nuclear Security Administration would be authorized for about $22 billion, including $590 million more than requested. The House NDAA would provide roughly $725 million more than the request. Last week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said he would vote against any version of the NDAA that did not include extra funding to clean up Manhattan Project-era radioactive contamination in Missouri.
The NDAA, like all authorization bills, is separate from the appropriations bills that actually provide money to federal agencies from the treasury.
Congress is not close to passing appropriations bills for the 2024 fiscal year that began Oct. 1, but lawmakers have kept the government open with a continuing resolution.