The Senate approved legislation on Thursday that would authorize $925 billion for national defense, giving overwhelming bipartisan support to the annual defense policy bill.
The vote set up a potentially contentious series of negotiations with the House, which has loaded its version of the measure with a range of conservative social policy dictates that the Senate mostly avoided.
The 77-to-20 vote took place late on Day 9 of a federal government shutdown, advancing legislation that would authorize everything from new submarines and fighter jets to the annual pay increase for troops. The bipartisan bill also overhauls how the military buys weapons and supports the large network of private and public organizations that provides the U.S. government with materials, products and services for defense and military operations.
“Today, the Senate passed one of the most important legislative priorities to enable the modernization of our military and strengthen our national security,” Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement late Thursday. The legislation helps the U.S. military contend with a threat environment “that we have not faced since World War II,” he added.
The bill also reflects how members of both parties continue to agree on pouring vast sums into the military, even as President Trump and Republicans have moved to slash government spending in a drive they say is aimed at reining in deficits. Combined with a hefty allocation in Mr. Trump’s sprawling tax cut domestic policy bill that was passed this summer, the measure would bring the amount of military spending authorized for the coming year to more than $1 trillion.
The legislation would reshape rules for defense contractors, which industry experts say deter smaller companies from bidding on projects. It also would extend the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative through 2028 and would increase authorized funding to $500 million. And the bill would expand the fighter jet program to authorize dozens more advanced F-35A jets.
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The post Senate Passes Bipartisan $925 Billion Defense Policy Bill appeared first on New York Times.
