FY2025 NDAA: Summary of Funding Authorizations
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CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
INSIGHTi
FY2025 NDAA: Summary of Proposed Funding Authorizations
August 15, 2024
Of the $895.2 billion requested in the FY2025 President’s budget for discretionary activities within the national defense budget function, approximately $883.7 billion fell within the scope of proposed versions of a National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (NDAA; H.R. 8070; S. 4638). While the NDAA by itself does not provide funding (i.e., budget authority), historically the legislation has served as an indicator of congressional views on funding for such activities.
During consideration of an FY2025 NDAA, Members of Congress have proposed authorizing more, the same, or less funding than the President requested for such activities. The House-passed H.R. 8070 would authorize the level of funding the President requested. The SASC-reported S. 4638 would authorize approximately $25.1 billion more than requested. See Table 1 and Figure 1.
This Insight summarizes funding authorizations in proposed versions of the FY2025 NDAA for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) activities, atomic energy defense programs, and certain other defense- related activities. To date, Congress has not enacted an FY2025 NDAA.
Table 1. Summary of Funding Authorizations in Proposed Versions of FY2025 NDAA
(in billions of current dollars of discretionary budget authority)
Title or
Division, and
Subfunction
Enacted
FY2024 NDAA
(P.L. 118-31)
FY2025
President’s
budget
requesta
House-passed
FY2025 NDAA
(H.R. 8070)
SASC-reported
FY2025 NDAA
(S. 4638)
Enacted
FY2025 NDAA
Procurement $169.17 $166.38 $163.59 $176.37
RDT&E $145.94 $143.16 $143.55 $146.01
O&M $288.82 $296.33 $295.00 $305.24
MILPERS $176.77 $181.88 $185.71 $182.30
Other Authorizations
$42.52 $44.22 $44.45 $44.45
MILCON $18.17 $17.55 $17.55 $20.66
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Title or
Division, and
Subfunction
Enacted
FY2024 NDAA
(P.L. 118-31)
FY2025
President’s
budget
requesta
House-passed
FY2025 NDAA
(H.R. 8070)
SASC-reported
FY2025 NDAA
(S. 4638)
Enacted
FY2025 NDAA
Subtotal, DOD- Military (051)
$841.4 $849.51 $849.84 $875.03
Subtotal, Atomic Energy Defense Programs (053)
$32.38 $33.78 $33.32 $33.39
Subtotal, Defense-Related Activities (054)
$0.44 $0.38 $0.51 n/ab
Total $874.21 $883.67 $883.67 $908.42
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, conference report to accompany H.R. 2670, 118th Cong., 1st sess., H.Rept. 118-301, December 6, 2023, pp. 1390-1395; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Armed Services, Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, report to accompany H.R. 8070, 118th Cong., 2nd sess., H.Rept. 118-529, May 31, 2024, pp. 402-407; and U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Armed Services, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, report to accompany S. 4638, 118th Cong., 2nd sess., S.Rept. 118-188, July 8, 2024, pp. 418-422. Notes: RDT&E is research, development, test, and evaluation; O&M is operation and maintenance; MILPERS is military personnel; and MILCON is military construction and family housing. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollars rounded to nearest hundredth. Enacted FY2025 NDAA column is blank because Congress has not enacted the legislation. a. Amounts in this column reflect those in H.Rept. 118-529.
b. The SASC typically does not authorize appropriations for the Department of Transportation Maritime Administration Maritime Security Program and Tanker Security Program; the final version of the NDAA typically does.
House-passed H.R. 8070
H.R. 8070, known as the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, would authorize $883.7 billion, as requested, according to the accompanying committee report, H.Rept. 118-529. Together with amounts for certain defense-related programs not within the legislation’s purview or requiring additional authorization, the discretionary budget authority implication of the bill would total $895.2 billion—consistent with the defense discretionary spending cap for FY2025 established in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-5).
During an April 30, 2024, hearing on the FY2025 DOD budget request, Representative Mike Rogers, Chair of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), described the department’s request as inadequate to restore deterrence. “But this is the hand dealt to us by the Fiscal Responsibility Act that we all have responsibility for enacting,” he said. “As we move to mark up the FY2025 NDAA, we will play that hand that was dealt to us.” In preparation for House consideration of the legislation, Representative Barbara Lee submitted an amendment that would have reduced the amount authorized by the bill by $100 billion, excluding accounts related to the Defense Health Program, military personnel, and pay and benefits. The amendment was not considered for floor debate. A bipartisan amendment adopted as Section 1005 of the bill would reduce funding for a military department or defense agency by 0.5% upon failure to submit financial statements or achieve an independent audit opinion.
While the overall level of funding authorizations in H.R. 8070 would match the President’s request, amounts authorized for certain types of accounts would differ from the request. For example, in terms of DOD titles, the legislation would authorize $3.8 billion (2.1%) more than requested for military personnel (MILPERS) appropriations, largely to support a 19.5% pay raise for certain junior enlisted servicemembers and an expanded housing allowance benefit as part of a package of “quality of life” initiatives. The legislation would authorize $2.8 billion (1.7%) less than requested for procurement
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appropriations, including the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy account—with no funding authorized for the Navy to procure the seventh Constellation-class (FFG) frigate, a type of small surface combatant.
In a Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 8070, the Biden Administration “strongly” opposed changing the basic pay schedule before the completion of the Fourteenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) and expressed disappointment at the level of shipbuilding funding, among other areas of disagreement.
SASC-reported S. 4638
S. 4638 would authorize $908.4 billion, $25.1 billion more than requested for DOD to “accelerate equipment recapitalization, increase military construction, address the highest-priority unfunded requirements of the military services and combatant commanders, decrease the Department’s facility maintenance backlog, and strengthen the defense industrial base.”
During debate of the bill in a closed session, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) voted 16-9 on a motion “to include a provision that would increase the topline by $25.0 billion.” Senator Roger Wicker, Ranking Member of SASC, filed the motion following the release of a plan calling for a “generational investment” in the U.S. military—with proposed funding increases of $55 billion in FY2025 and additional amounts to reach 5% of Gross Domestic Product in the future—to prevent conflict, recapitalize U.S. military equipment, and safeguard national security innovation. Senator Jack Reed, Chair of SASC, said he voted against reporting the bill to the Senate because it included “a funding increase that cannot be appropriated without breaking lawful spending caps and causing unintended harm to our military. I appreciate the need for greater defense spending to ensure our national security, but I cannot support this approach.”
S. 4638 would authorize $25.1 billion more funding than requested for DOD, across each appropriation title, with $10.0 billion more than requested for procurement accounts; $2.9 billion more for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) accounts; and $3.1 billion more for military construction (MILCON) accounts.
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Figure 1. Congressional Changes to President’s Requested Funding Authorizations in
Proposed Versions of FY2025 NDAA
(in billions of current dollars of budget authority)
Source: See Table 1. Notes: See Table 1.
Author Information
Brendan W. McGarry Specialist in U.S. Defense Budget
Disclaimer
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