The House and Senate have passed their versions of the annual defense spending bill, but contentious negotiations lie ahead due to social policy riders in the House version - but they agree on a defense civilian and military pay raise. Image: ImagePixel/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffService members and civilian employees would see a 5.2-percent increase in basic pay, under the version of the 2024 defense-spending bill that passed the Senate by an 86-11 vote late last month. The measure includes provisions that would address housing, healthcare and childcare costs service members and their families face.
A compromise with the House-passed version (which also includes the 5.2-percent raise) still needs to be hammered out, contending with proposals to “optimize” the DoD civilian workforce, cutting $1.1 billion from the civilian salary account, and blocking further funding for Ukraine – among various other social policy riders, making for difficult negotiations ahead.
Included in the Senate version:
• Funding for procurement of new vessels, fighter and bomber aircraft, armored vehicles, weapons systems and munitions.
• Establishment of the Indo-Pacific Campaigning Initiative, which would establish and enhance accommodations in the region for exercises, navigation operations, and partner engagements.
• Enhancement of military assistance to Taiwan, to include training, advising, and capacity-building of the country’s armed forces.
• Continued support for the Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS) partnership.
• Full funding through 2027 for assistance of Ukraine in the country’s effort to prevail in the ongoing conflict with Russia. Supplying Ukraine with munitions would also be streamlined.
• Military enlisted barracks would be upgraded and improved. Substandard barracks would be replaced.
• More funding would be directed to recruitment-advertising campaigns.
• Microelectronics, hypersonic weapons and unmanned aircraft systems would receive “significant” funding increases.
• The nuclear triad would be recapitalized and modernized, with focus upon safety, security and reliability of the stockpile, delivery systems and infrastructure. In-theater and homeland missile-defense systems and nonproliferation programs would be enhanced.
The bill includes a plan to start a community college-based enlisted training corps, as part of the effort to attract new recruits.
“This bipartisan NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] provides a historic level of support for our troops and their families, including the largest military pay raise in decades. It authorizes record-level investments in the people, platforms, and programs that our forces need to safeguard the nation and advance U.S. interests worldwide,” Sen. Jack Reed, D.-Rhode Island, the Armed Services Committee chairman, said.
“The bill we have delivered takes care of our troops with a substantial pay raise and reforms that will improve quality of life for our servicemen and women,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Mississippi, the committee’s ranking member.
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