INSIGHTi

FY2023 NDAA: Status of Legislative Activity
August 8, 2022
By law (31 U.S.C. §1105(a)), the President is to send the federal budget request to Congress by the first
Monday in February. In practice, Presidents sometimes send it later. On March 28, 2022, President Joseph
R. Biden submitted the FY2023 budget request, including proposed funding for the Department of
Defense (DOD), nuclear weapons programs of the Department of Energy, and other national defense-
related activities. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) typically sets policy and authorizes
appropriations for the vast majority of these activities. This product provides the status of congressional
activity on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023 NDAA; H.R. 7900; S.
4543).
On June 6-8, in preparation of subcommittee and full committee markups, the seven subcommittees of the
House Armed Services Committee (or HASC) released draft legislative proposals (known as marks) for
matters in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA) under their respective
jurisdictions. On June 8-9, the HASC subcommittees considered and reported their marks to the full
committee. On June 20, Representative Adam Smith, Chair of HASC, released his draft legislative
proposals (i.e., Chairman’s mark) for portions of the bill not in the subcommittee marks. On June 22,
HASC began considering and marking up the legislation. On June 23, the committee voted 57-1 to order
H.R. 7900 reported to the House with an amendment in the nature of a substitute reflecting the product of
the two-day markup. On July 1, the committee filed its report, H.Rept. 117-397, to accompany the
legislation. On July 7, the committee filed a supplemental report that included the Congressional Budget
Office’s cost estimate for the bill. On July 12, the House Rules Committee met to report a structured rule
for the House to consider H.R. 7900 and other legislation. On July 13-14, the House debated and
considered amendments to H.R. 7900. On July 14, the House passed the measure, as amended, by a vote
of 329-101.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, on June 13-14, the seven subcommittees of the Senate Armed Services
Committee (SASC) marked up draft legislative proposals with recommendations for matters in the
FY2023 NDAA under their respective jurisdictions. As in previous years, two of the markups were held
in open sessions (Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, and Subcommittee on
Personnel), and five were closed. On June 15-16, the full committee considered the legislation in a closed
session. On June 16, Senators Jack Reed and Jim Inhofe, Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, of
SASC, announced the committee voted 23-3 to order reported an original bill reflecting changes agreed to
in markup. On July 18, SASC reported S. 4543 and filed the accompanying report S.Rept. 117-130. The
Senate has not considered S. 4543.
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
IN11985
CRS INSIGHT
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress

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Congressional Research Service
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Table 1 shows the status of legislative activity on the FY2023 NDAA.
Table 1. FY2023 NDAA: Status of Legislative Activity
House
Senate
Public Law
Vote #
Vote #
Bill #,
(yeas-nays),
Bill #,
(yeas-nays),
P.L. #,
Date
Report #,
Date
Resolving
Date
Report #,
Date
Resolving
Date
Reported
Date
Passed
Differences
Reported
Date
Passed
Differences
Signed
H.R. 7900,
H.Rept. 117-
350 (329-






7/1/22
397, 7/1/22 101), 7/14/22




S. 4543,
S.Rept. 117-



7/18/22
130, 7/18/22
Source: CRS analysis of selected actions in Congress.gov.
Figure 1 shows the number of days between the start of the fiscal year and enactment of the annual
defense authorization act since FY1977, when the federal government transitioned to a fiscal year
beginning October 1, 1976. The FY2023 NDAA has not been enacted and is not shown in the figure.
Figure 1. Days Between Start of Fiscal Year and Enactment of Annual Defense
Authorization Acts, FY1977-FY2022
(in days)

Source: CRS analysis of dates of enactment of public law from CRS Report 98-756, Defense Authorization and
Appropriations Bills: FY1961-FY2021, by Barbara Salazar Torreon and Sofia Plagakis; and P.L. 117-81.
Note: Positive values indicate number of days between start of the fiscal year and enactment of annual defense
authorization acts. Thus, the figure shows that since FY1977 annual defense authorization legislation has been enacted, on
average, 42 days after the beginning of the fiscal year (i.e., early November). Negative values indicate number of days
between enactment of annual defense authorization acts and start of fiscal year. Annual defense authorization legislation
for the fiscal years 1979, 1989, 1996, 2008, 2016, and 2021 was enacted over a presidential veto. The FY2023 NDAA has
not been enacted and is not shown in the figure.

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Congressional Research Service
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Author Information

Brendan W. McGarry
Valerie Heitshusen
Analyst in US Defense Budget
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process





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