Biden signs FY-23 NDAA

President Biden today signed into law the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which supports $858 billion in total defense spending, marking the 62nd consecutive year the bill has become law.

Along with authorizing funding for the U.S. military, the massive bill also serves as a vehicle for several other key pieces of legislation including bills to increase U.S. defense assistance to Taiwan, authorize policy and toplines for the State Department and intelligence community, and more.

Additionally, the bill rolls back the Pentagon COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The White House has said it is disappointed by the move but Biden never threatened a veto.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) praised the bill’s bipartisan support in a statement.

“As I have said before, there’s a lot to be proud of in this bill,” he said. “I want to thank President Biden and everyone involved in this process for the open, bipartisan collaboration that has allowed us to produce an excellent NDAA."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) said in a statement that the bill will go a long way to help the United States counter China and Russia.

“This NDAA goes a long way toward deterring aggression, preventing and reducing threats and conflicts, and ensuring our nation continues to peacefully prosper,” he said. “It will help the U.S. out-compete China; deter Russian aggression; confront climate change; control the spread of nuclear weapons; and strengthen U.S. supply chains and our cyber defenses. We’ve also seen how NDAA investments can lead to promising scientific breakthroughs with clean energy.”