Senate passes defense policy bill

The Senate voted 89-10 today to send the annual defense authorization bill to President Biden for his signature.

The bill is now set to be signed into law for the 61st consecutive year.

The bill includes $740 billion specifically for the Pentagon, which is $25 billion more than Biden requested earlier this year. The bill also authorizes about $28 billion for the Energy Department's nuclear weapons programs.

The bill does not include an additional $10 billion outside of the legislation's jurisdiction that is set to be appropriated elsewhere, bringing total U. S. defense spending to about $778 billion for FY-22.

However, Congress, which is operating under a stopgap continuing resolution that expires Feb. 18, has yet to agree to a spending package that would actually appropriate the money.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) warned of a full-year CR in the event Congress cannot reach an agreement.

“A full-year CR would not only reduce defense spending by $35 billion compared with the levels set forth in the [defense authorization bill] that [Republicans] claim to support, it would actually cut defense spending below last year’s levels,” he said.

He urged Democrats and Republicans to find a bipartisan solution.

“We are 10 weeks into the fiscal year,” he said. “Let’s get to work negotiating full-year appropriations bills that address our country’s many needs, including our country’s national defense.”