Congress passes omnibus with $782B for defense

The House and Senate have passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2022, that includes $782 billion for national defense, and it now is headed for President Biden's desk.

The measure passed the Senate last night 68-31 and passed the House on Wednesday 361-69. Passage of the bill, which Biden is expected to sign it into law as soon as possible, averts a government shutdown that had been scheduled for midnight.

The FY-22 defense budget is about $30 billion more than Biden initially requested and about 6%, or $42 billion higher than it was in FY-21. The Pentagon's portion of the overall defense budget will be $743.2 billion, which includes military construction.

Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord said this week most of the defense spending hike ended up in the Defense Department’s modernization accounts, procurement and research and development.

Meanwhile, Congress is expecting Biden’s FY-23 budget in the coming weeks.