Updated November 9, 2018January 8, 2020
Defense Primer: The NDAA Process
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provides
authorization of appropriations for the Department of
Defense (DOD), nuclear weapons programs of the
Department of Energy, DOD elements of the Intelligence
Community, and defense-related activities at other federal
agencies. In addition to serving as an authorization of
appropriations, the NDAA establishes defense policies and
restrictions, and addresses organizational administrative
matters related to the DOD. Unlike an appropriations bill,
the NDAA does not provide budget authority for
government activities. Nevertheless, historically it has
provided a fairly reliable indicator of congressional
sentiment on subsequent appropriations for particular
programs.
Enactment of the
Enactment of the annual NDAA has come to be expected annually,
as FY2020,
as FY2019 was the 58th59th consecutive fiscal year for which an
annual a
defense authorization was enacted. This regular
enactment enactment
of complex legislation for more than five
decades depends
upon close adherence to process and
consistency in procedures, schedules, and protocols.
Committees of Jurisdiction
The authorizing committees begin their work on the NDAA
in parallel. Both committees conduct a series of hearings on
the budget request and related matters, which typically lead
to the drafting and markup of separate bills in the House
and the Senate.
Hearings
Upon receipt of the President’s budget request, the HASC
and the SASC begin a series of posture hearings in which
the senior civilian and military leadership of the DOD, the
military services, and certain defense agencies are invited to
testify before the committees on the budget request. The
subcommittees will also conduct related hearings, with a
focus on issues specific to that subcommittee’s jurisdiction.
For example, the SASC may hold a hearing with the
Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Army on that year’s
budget request for the Army, and the Airland Subcommittee
might follow with a hearing specifically looking at the
Army’s ground vehicle procurement programs.
The House Committee on Armed Services (HASC) and the
Senate Committee on Armed Services (SASC) are provided
jurisdiction over all bills, resolutions, and other matters
relating to the common defense under the Rules of the
House and Senate. Referred to as the authorizers or the
authorizing committees, the HASC and SASC each has
subcommittees that are assigned jurisdictional
responsibilities by the full committee. In the 115th
Congress, the HASC established seven subcommittees:
Tactical Air and Land Forces;
Military Personnel;
Seapower and Projection Forces;
Strategic Forces;
Readiness;
Emerging Threats and Capabilities; and
Oversight and Investigations.
Markup
In a typical year, the committees will have reviewed the
President’s budget request and associated policy proposals
and prepared authorizing legislation for markup in
committee by late April or May. These meetings are called
markups because committee members mark up the
legislation by considering, debating, and voting on
amendments to the authorizing bill.
Similarly, the SASC established seven subcommittees:
Airland;
Cybersecurity;
Personnel;
Seapower;
Strategic Forces;
Readiness and Management Support; and
Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
Full Committee Markup
Once the subcommittees have all finalized their markups,
the full committee will convene to consider, debate, and
vote on amendments to each of the subcommittee marks.
During full committee markup, the full committee
Chairman’s Mark, which contains legislation and funding
recommendations for matters that are not assigned to a
specific subcommittee, is considered, debated, and voted
on. The full committee Chairman’s Mark addresses a
variety of cross-cutting issues such as general defense
policy, matters related to the organization and management
of the DOD, acquisition and industrial base policy, and
matters related to foreign nations and Overseas
Contingency Operations (OCO).
The NDAA Timeline
The NDAA process begins on or about the first Monday in
February of each year, with the submission of the
President’s budget request to Congress. The Administration
often submits policy proposals (requests for legislation) to
the committees of jurisdiction in conjunction with the
budget request.
Subcommittee Markup
In current practice, both the HASC and the SASC begin the
markup process in subcommittee, with each of the
subcommittees considering the subcommittee Chairman’s
Mark, which is a draft legislative proposal with funding
recommendations for matters in the bill under that
subcommittee’s jurisdiction. At completion of markup, each
subcommittee votes to report the proposal, as amended, to
the full committee.
Common HASC Committee Practices
The NDAA has recently included several hundred pages of
legislation and authorization of more than $700 billion. In
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Defense Primer: The NDAA Process
procedures, schedules, and protocols.
Committees of Jurisdiction
The House Committee on Armed Services (HASC) and the
Senate Committee on Armed Services (SASC) are provided
jurisdiction over all bills, resolutions, and other matters
relating to the common defense under the Rules of the
House and Senate. Referred to as the authorizers or the
authorizing committees, the HASC and SASC each has
subcommittees that are assigned jurisdictional
responsibilities by the full committee. In the 116th
Congress, the HASC established six subcommittees:
Tactical Air and Land Forces;
Military Personnel;
Readiness;
Seapower and Projection Forces;
Strategic Forces; and
Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
The SASC established seven subcommittees:
Airland;
Cybersecurity;
Emerging Threats and Capabilities;
Personnel;
Readiness and Management Support;
Seapower; and
Strategic Forces.
The NDAA Timeline
The NDAA process begins on or about the first Monday in
February of each year, with the submission of the
President’s budget request to Congress. The Administration
often submits policy proposals (requests for legislation) to
the committees of jurisdiction in conjunction with the
budget request.
The authorizing committees begin their work on the NDAA
in parallel. Both committees conduct a series of hearings on
the budget request and related matters, which typically lead
to the drafting and markup of separate bills in the House
and the Senate.
Hearings
Upon receipt of the President’s budget request, the HASC
and the SASC begin a series of posture hearings in which
the senior civilian and military leadership of the DOD, the
military services, and certain defense agencies are invited to
testify before the committees on the budget request. The
subcommittees will also conduct related hearings, with a
focus on issues specific to that subcommittee’s jurisdiction.
For example, the SASC may hold a hearing with the
Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Army on that year’s
budget request for the Army, and the Airland Subcommittee
might follow with a hearing specifically looking at the
Army’s ground vehicle procurement programs.
Markup
In a typical year, the committees will have reviewed the
President’s budget request and associated policy proposals
and prepared authorizing legislation for markup in
committee by late April or May. These meetings are called
markups because committee members mark up the
legislation by considering, debating, and voting on
amendments to the authorizing bill.
Subcommittee Markup
In current practice, both the HASC and the SASC begin the
markup process in subcommittee, with each of the
subcommittees considering the subcommittee Chairman’s
Mark, which is a draft legislative proposal with funding
recommendations for matters in the bill under that
subcommittee’s jurisdiction. At completion of markup, each
subcommittee votes to report the proposal, as amended, to
the full committee.
Full Committee Markup
Once the subcommittees have all finalized their markups,
the full committee will convene to consider, debate, and
vote on amendments to each of the subcommittee marks.
During full committee markup, the full committee
Chairman’s Mark, which contains legislation and funding
recommendations for matters that are not assigned to a
specific subcommittee, is considered, debated, and voted
on. The full committee Chairman’s Mark addresses a
variety of cross-cutting issues such as general defense
policy, matters related to the organization and management
of the DOD, acquisition and industrial base policy, and
matters related to foreign nations and Overseas
Contingency Operations (OCO).
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Defense Primer: The NDAA Process
Common HASC Committee Practices
The most recent NDAA includes more than 1,000 pages of
legislation and authorization of more than $700 billion. In
order to shepherd a bill of this magnitude successfully
through the legislative process, the HASC has adopted
several common practices in drafting and marking up the
NDAA.
Practice at HASC markup typically has not allowed for the
consideration of certain amendments. For example:
Earmarks. House rules currently prevent consideration
of a bill reported by a committee unless the report
includes a list of congressional earmarks or a statement
that there are none. Moreover, it is the current policy of
the House Republican Conference that no Member shall
offer an amendment with an earmark; therefore, the
HASC Chairman will not allow Committee practice does not permit
Members to offer any
amendment during markup any amendment
containing an earmark.
Sequential referral. The HASC Chairman typicallycommittee typically also
requires members of the committee to provide, before
offering any amendment that involves the jurisdiction of
other House committees, a letter from the respective
committee chairman indicating a waiver of the right of
referral. This requirement is also imposed on legislation
in the underlying mark. Doing so avoids potential delay
that could result from a sequential referral of the bill to
other committees.
Offsets. In long-standing practice, the HASC Chairman
also requiresThe committee’s typical past practice also has
required that amendments that would increase
spending spending
for one item should identify suitable offsets.
Common SASC Committee Practices
Under Senate rules, committees and their subcommittees
may vote to hold closed meetings for specific reasons (e.g.,
to avoid disclosing certain national security information). In
recent practice, the SASC full committee markup (and most
markups (and
most subcommittee markups) typically hashave been
conducted in
closed session. In addition, the SASC proposal
is typically
reported to the Senate as an original bill (that is,
its text has
not been previously formally introduced).
Floor Consideration
Once reported favorably out of committee, the NDAA may
be scheduled for floor consideration. In the House, current
practice is to consider the bill under the provisions of a
special rule that structures the conditions of debate and
possible floor amendments to the bill. In recent years, the
rule has sometimes made more than 100 amendments in
order (many of which are offered and agreed to en bloc).
After being considered, debated, and amended in the
House, the House-passed version of the NDAA is sent to
the Senate and typically either referred to SASC or placed
on the Senate calendar.
In the Senate, after SASC has reported its proposal, any
floor debate and amendment consideration is typically
structured pursuant to multiple unanimous consent
agreements. In recent practice, it is not uncommon for the
Senate to consider wellthe Senate has sometimes
considered over 100 floor amendments.
However, one or
more cloture processes (by which threefifthsthree-fifths of the Senate,
typically 60 Senators, votes to limit
consideration) may be
necessary to reach a final vote on
certain amendments, and on the bill itself.
on the bill itself.
If the Senate passes its own bill first, it is sent to the House;
often, instead, the Senate takes up the House bill it has
received and considers amendments to it (including the
proposal reported by SASC).
Conference
The Constitution requires that the House and Senate
approve the same bill in precisely the same form before it is
presented to the President. To this end, each house must
pass its own version of the same measure and then attempt
to reach agreement with the other house about its
provisions. An agreement may be reached by the exchange
of alternatives between the chambers. Alternatively, the
House and Senate can each agree to create a conference
committee to propose a package settlement of the
competing proposals.
A conference committee is traditionally used to resolve
differences between the houses on the NDAA. Conferees
are House and Senate members, drawn mainly from the
HASC and SASC, who are expected to resolve
disagreements between the House and Senate positions and
provide an agreement in the form of a conference report.
Conferees may also be appointed from other committees
with jurisdiction over components of the bill; the chamber
may limit the provisions on which these conferees may
negotiate. The conference committee will typically begin its
work as soon as possible following passage of a proposal in
each chamber. Completion of the conference report is not
on a specified timeline, but many of the authorities
provided by the NDAA expire at the end of the fiscal year.
Therefore, considerable effort is put toward completing the
NDAA conference prior to October 1 of each year.
Once reported by the conference committee, a conference
report is subject to debate during floor consideration, but is
not amendable. (In the Senate, reaching a vote on the
conference report may require three-fifths of the Senate to
invoke cloture.) If the House and Senate each agree to the
conference report, the NDAA is enrolled for presentation to
the President.
CRS Products
CRS Report R42843, Introduction to the Legislative Process in the
U.S. Congress
CRS Infographic IG10005, From Bill to Law: Stages of the
Legislative Process
CRS In Focus IF10514, Defense Primer: Defense Appropriations
Process
Note: For questions on the legislative process,
congressional clients may contact contact
Valerie Heitshusen; for
questions on the NDAA, congressional clients may contact
Brendan W. McGarry. Acknowledgment: This primer was
originally co-authoredcoauthored by Lynn M. Williams, former CRS
Specialist in Defense Readiness and Infrastructure.
Valerie Heitshusen, Specialist on Congress and the
Legislative Process
Brendan W. McGarry, Analyst in US Defense Budget
If the Senate passes its own bill first, it is sent to the House;
often, instead, the Senate takes up the House bill it has
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Defense Primer: The NDAA Process
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
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