The INSIDER daily digest -- Oct. 31, 2023

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Biden administration's proposed supplemental spending request and more.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee this morning on the administration's multibillion-dollar supplemental spending request for Ukraine and Israel:

Austin, Blinken spotlight industrial base investments in emergency spending request

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Senate appropriators today that approving the $106 billion national security spending package sought by President Biden would pour significant funding into the U.S. defense industrial base, resulting in not just the support of key allies Ukraine and Israel, but also a surge in American jobs.

Document: Senate hearing on supplemental spending request

In related news, House GOP lawmakers are proposing a spending package for Israel that will likely be dead-on-arrival in the Senate:

House GOP moves to fund Israeli aid by cutting IRS

House Republicans have put forth a standalone bill that would provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel in its war against Hamas by cutting the Internal Revenue Service, something Democrats have said they will oppose.

Army Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, who leads the service's Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, spoke at a recent panel hosted by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance:

General stresses importance of laser weapons alongside missile deployments

With the U.S. facing China and Russia as adversaries, one Army general last week stressed the need for laser weapons to be deployed alongside the nation's missile defenses.

The Pentagon's proposed B61-13 nuclear bomb will have the updated safety, security and accuracy of B61-12 bombs but will have a larger yield similar to the B61-7s:

DOD to develop new nuclear bomb variant

The Defense Department is seeking a modern-variant, nuclear gravity bomb, which it has designated the B61-13, the department announced today.

A new Congressional Budget Office report analyzes the Navy's latest shipbuilding plan:

CBO: As acquisition costs rise, shipbuilding appropriations must grow 31-40% to achieve Navy fleet plans

Annual shipbuilding appropriations must increase by 31% to 40% over their current five-year average for the Navy to achieve any of the three alternatives presented in its latest 30-year shipbuilding plan, according to a new Congressional Budget Office analysis that points to submarine acquisitions as a leading driver of cost growth.

Document: CBO analysis of the Navy's FY-24 shipbuilding plan