The Senate Armed Services Committee overwhelmingly voted 24-1 to advance the annual defense spending bill on Thursday, sending it to the Senate floor for consideration.
The bill supports a top line of $886.3 billion for fiscal 2024 for national defense, roughly $844 billion of which would go to the Department of Defense. Another $32 billion would go to the Department of Energy, and $10 billion has been set aside for defense-related activities outside of the National Defense Authorization Act's jurisdiction.
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The top line number is in line with both President Joe Biden’s request and what the House Armed Services Committee passed earlier this week. Defense hawks in the Senate are pushing for a defense supplemental for Ukraine on top of the $886 billion, though House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is objecting to that effort.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the ranking member on the committee, is among the Republicans who believe the top line number is insufficient to meet the Pentagon’s needs as it seeks to deter an increasingly aggressive China, which the department characterizes as its “pacing challenge.”
“I feel strongly that the bill as reported does not adequately fund our defense needs, and I will work to increase the Department of Defense top level as the bill progresses,” he said in a statement. “This is the best way to deter conflict around the globe. I am glad Chairman Reed has also expressed support for higher defense expenditures.”
The bill includes a 5.2% pay raise for both service members and the department's civilian workforce, which would represent the largest increase since 2002.
The House Armed Services Committee passed its companion bill in the wee hours Thursday morning after lawmakers spent 17 hours debating hundreds of amendments. Many of the provisions included in the House bill were also included in the Senate version.
House committee Republicans, who hold the majority, pushed aggressively to dismantle the military's diversity and inclusion efforts, though the Democratic-led Senate was able to push back on some of those amendments in their own version.
The Senate version includes provisions that would encourage increased diversity at the service academies, though it would put limitations on the extent of the DEI workforce in the Pentagon, according to a committee staffer.
It also includes language urging an emphasis on the importance of individual merit, though lawmakers punted some decisions until they get specific information back from the services.
The language in the Senate bill also matches that of the House as it relates to the Space Command, and the fight over its permanent location. Its current base is in Colorado, but there is a fight over whether it should be relocated to Alabama.
Both bills included a provision that would halt construction spending on the headquarters in Colorado until the Air Force announces its final decision and is able to justify the selection, and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s travel budget would be cut in half until the permanent headquarters is finalized.
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Republican lawmakers recently introduced a bill that, if passed, would bar the administration from factoring in abortion access, or a lack thereof, in Alabama in its decision-making process for where Space Command should be located.
NBC News reported in mid-May, citing anonymous defense and congressional officials, that the White House may be laying the groundwork to halt a relocation to Alabama due to the state’s restrictive abortion laws, though a White House official told the Washington Examiner last month that abortion laws or reproductive care access are not factors in the review of the permanent location.