WASHINGTON — The House’s $874 billion National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2024, advanced early Thursday, would establish a special inspector general for Ukraine aid, mandate Pentagon cybersecurity cooperation with Taiwan, authorize procurement of nine battle force ships and permit some aircraft retirements.
The bill is the primary of three major defense bills Congress expects to maneuver forward in lower than three days. The Armed Services Committee voted in favor of the bill 58-1 after 14 hours of debate, setting the stage for the total House to vote in July before negotiating final laws with the Senate. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., was the lone no vote.
“It’s a superb bill that may strengthen our national defense and supply for our warfighters,” House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said firstly of the mark up on Wednesday. “It would help construct the ready, capable and lethal fighting force we’d like to discourage China and our other adversaries.”
Still, Rogers and other Republican defense hawks previously have criticized the $886 billion defense top line as “inadequate” since it doesn’t keep pace with inflation. The highest line is up 3.3% from last yr, and is locked in place after Congress negotiated a deal to boost the debt ceiling while cutting non-defense spending to $704 billion.
Rogers has joined Senate Republicans in calling for Congress to avoid the debt limit deal’s defense spending caps through supplemental spending packages for the Pentagon later this yr, though House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has resisted that concept.
Ukraine and Taiwan
The Armed Services Committee used electronic voting for the primary time this yr to mark up the defense authorization bill and greater than 800 amendments, allowing lawmakers to maneuver through the marathon session barely faster than in prior years.
The amendments included a provision from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., that may establish an independent inspector general to oversee Ukraine aid, much like the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan. Republicans have called for this measure to supply an extra layer of Ukraine aid oversight beyond the Pentagon Inspector General. The committee approved the Ukraine inspector general as a part of a package of nonpartisan amendments adopted by voice vote.
Democrats unsuccessfully sought so as to add $500 million to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative beyond the $300 million the Biden administration requested. Republicans argued the boost would harm readiness, with Rogers noting the offset “robs nearly every operations and maintenance account in existence.” The proposed increase, introduced by Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, failed in a 28-31 party-line vote.
The bill stipulates that $80 billion of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds it provides should go toward giving Kyiv long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, which the Biden administration has up to now refused to send.
Moreover, the bill includes some bipartisan recommendations advanced by the House China Committee last month, including an amendment from China Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., requiring the Defense Department to collaborate with Taiwan on cybersecurity.
Republicans passed 31-28 one other China provision introduced by Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, over Democratic objections. That amendment requires the Pentagon to submit a report on plans to blockade fuel shipments to China within the event of a conflict. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, deemed the supply too aggressive and argued the Pentagon likely has classified plans for this scenario already.
Procurement
The bill authorizes procurement of nine battle force ships: two Virginia-class submarines, one Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, two Arleigh Burke destroyers, two guided missile frigates, one T-AO fleet oiler and one amphibious transport dock ship.
The Navy didn’t request the amphibious ship, however the Marine Corps asked for $1.7 billion in its unfunded priority list to complete buying it.
The Armed Services Committee sided with the Marines, arguing the Pentagon’s plans to pause the road would allow the amphibious fleet to drop below the statutory 31-ship requirement. These ships are often purchased every other yr, but an amendment added by sea power subcommittee Chairman Trent Kelly, R-Miss., would authorize incremental funding through FY25 to permit the Defense Department to start contracting and procuring the following amphibious transport dock in FY24.
Republicans also cited the Pentagon’s decision to pause buying amphibious ships as a part of their justification for a provision within the bill that may abolish the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Office and move its duties elsewhere, accusing the office of slowing down the acquisition process.
Lawmakers said the proposed pause could upend workforce and provide chains when Congress is concentrated on bolstering the shipbuilding industrial base. The bill also invests $251 million within the submarine industrial base within the hopes of getting it heading in the right direction to construct two Virginia-class and one Columbia-class submarines per yr.
Republicans also passed an amendment from Strategic Forces subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., that may institutionalize the sea-launched cruise missile nuclear program, while allocating nearly $196 million for its research and development in FY24. Democrats said instating this system would cost a minimum of $31 billion and fundamentally change the mission of attack submarines.
But Lamborn didn’t secure enough support to undo Rogers’ provision barring construction on the temporary Space Command headquarters in his Colorado district until Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall makes an extended overdue final basing decision and justifies it to Congress. Lamborn withdrew the amendment within the face of opposition from Rogers and two other Alabama lawmakers on the committee, who want the Air Force to position the headquarters in Huntsville.
The bill would thwart Navy efforts to retire three amphibious ships and two cruisers, nevertheless it would allow the Air Force to retire 42 A-10 Warthog attack planes after long blocking efforts to accomplish that. And the committee added by voice vote an amendment from Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., to forestall the retirement of Air National Guard squadrons until six months after Congress receives a report on how you can fill the gap.
Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.