Congress enacted FY2025 appropriations for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) through two short-term continuing resolutions (CRs; P.L. 118-83; P.L. 118-158) and one full-year CR (Title IV of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025; H.R. 1969; P.L. 119-4 ). This product summarizes legislative activity under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittees on Defense of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations related to FY2025 DOD appropriations (see Table 1).

Legislative History

On March 11, 2024, the Biden Administration released an FY2025 budget request, initiating the annual congressional appropriations cycle.

House-Passed H.R. 8774

Between March and June 2024, the House Committee on Appropriations (HAC) Subcommittee on Defense (HAC-D) held five open hearings and 10 classified sessions to receive testimony on defense-related portions of the President's FY2025 budget request, along with a Member Day for Members to share their defense priorities with the subcommittee. Topics for the open sessions included assessments of Air Force and Space Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps budgets, including reserve and National Guard requests.

In compliance with statutory provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA; P.L. 118-5) and Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA; P.L. 99-177), along with congressional procedures established in consequence of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344), the House Appropriations Committee on May 23, 2024, voted on initial allocations of budget authority across all 12 appropriations measures.

On June 4, 2024, the HAC released a draft measure and a summary of a Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025. On June 5, the subcommittee held a closed session and approved by voice vote its version of an FY2025 defense appropriations bill. On June 13, HAC convened a full committee markup of the legislation and voted on amendments, including roll call votes on amendments not contained in the subcommittees' marks. The committee voted 34-25 to report the bill as amended to the House. On June 17, the HAC reported the bill and accompanying report to the House (H.R. 8774; H.Rept. 118-557).

On June 24, the Biden Administration sent a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) to the HAC-D chair, Representative Tom Cole, strongly opposing the committee-reported version of H.R. 8774 due to what the Administration characterized as "numerous, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences for the readiness and wellbeing of America's military and their families."

On June 25, the House Committee on Rules reported a resolution (H.Rept. 118-559) containing a special rule that would govern floor consideration of the defense bill, determining which amendments would be considered and how much time would be allocated for debate. This special rule was adopted by floor vote on June 26, setting the conditions for a full House debate of the defense bill. On June 27 and June 28, the full House debated additional amendments to the bill, ultimately passing a version of H.R. 8774 (containing provisions to which the SAP objected) by a roll call vote of 217-198, with 17 Members not voting.

Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC)-Reported S. 4921

Between April and June 2024, the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) Subcommittee on Defense (SAC-D) held six open hearings and two closed hearings to review and receive testimony on the President's FY2025 budget request for defense and intelligence programs. Open hearings included a hearing on select DOD acquisition programs and reviews of the FY2025 budget request for the Navy and Marine Corps; Air Force and Space Force; Army; DOD; and National Guard and Reserve. Closed hearings reviewed the FY2025 budget request for the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, and "space matters" related to the National Reconnaissance Office, Air Force, and Space Force.

The SAC released initial subcommittee funding allocations on July 10, 2024 (S.Rept. 118-190), and revised the allocations on July 24 (S.Rept. 118-197) and July 31 (S.Rept. 118-203). On August 1, SAC voted 28-0 to report to the Senate an original bill (S. 4921) "as a Committee amendment in the nature of a substitute to the House companion measure." The bill was accompanied by a Senate Report (S.Rept. 118-204) reflecting the July 31 suballocations for DOD military programs and detailing certain emergency-designated requirements exempted from FRA and BBEDCA discretionary defense budget authority constraints. No further action on the bill was taken.

H.R. 1968: Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025

H.R. 1968 was introduced in the House on March 10, 2025. On March 11, the House Rules Committee approved a resolution (H.Res. 211) providing for consideration in the House of several legislative measures under a closed rule, including H.R. 1968. The House approved H.Res. 211 and considered H.R. 1968 under its provisions. The bill passed the House on March 11, 2025, and was received in the Senate that day. After invoking cloture to bring Senate debate on the bill to a close, and following floor votes that rejected several amendments to the bill, the Senate passed H.R. 1968 without modification on March 14, 2025. President Donald J. Trump signed the bill into law on March 15, 2025.

Figure 1 shows the timing of the annual defense appropriations act enactment since FY1977, when the federal government transitioned to a fiscal year beginning October 1. FY2025 is the first year during this period that DOD has operated under a full-year CR.

Figure 1. Days between Start of Fiscal Year and Enactment of Annual Defense Appropriations Act, FY1977-FY2024 (in number of days)

Source: CRS figure based on data from CRS Report 98-756, Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills: FY1961-FY2021, by Barbara Salazar Torreon and Sofia Plagakis; P.L. 117-103; P.L. 117-328; P.L. 118-47; and P.L. 119-4. Notes: Positive values indicate number of days between start of the fiscal year and enactment of annual defense appropriations acts. Negative values indicate number of days between enactment of annual defense appropriations acts and start of fiscal year.