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 Division A), one supplemental appropriation for disaster relief (P.L. 118-158 Division B), and one full-year CR (Title IV and Title XI of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025; P.L. 119-4 ). This product summarizes discretionary funding levels for DOD programs, projects, and activities under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittees on Defense of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, including those associated with House (H.R. 8774; H.Rept. 118-557) and Senate (S. 4921; S.Rept. 118-204) versions of a Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025; Title III of the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 118-158 Division B); and Division A, Title IV of the enacted full-year CR. See Table 1.
This product does not incorporate FY2025 enacted funding provisions for military construction or family housing, nor defense provisions contained in pending FY2025 budget reconciliation measures (H.R. 1, as amended).
Table 1. FY2025 Department of Defense Discretionary Appropriations
Under Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Jurisdiction
(in billions of nominal dollars of budget authority, by title)
|
Appropriations |
FY2024 Enacted |
FY2025 |
FY2025 House-passed |
SAC-reported |
|
|
Military Personnela |
$176.2 |
$181.9 |
$183.7 |
$180.7 |
$182.4 |
|
TRICARE for Life |
$10.6 |
$11.0 |
$11.0 |
$11.0 |
$11.0 |
|
Operation and Maintenance (O&M)b |
$287.2 |
$296.3 |
$293.6 |
$300.6 |
$290.3 |
|
Procurement |
$172.0 |
$166.8 |
$165.4 |
$175.2 |
$167.5 |
|
RDT&E |
$148.3 |
$143.2 |
$146.5 |
$145.1 |
$141.2 |
|
Revolving and Management Fundsc |
$1.8 |
$1.7 |
$1.7 |
$1.8 |
$1.8 |
|
Other DOD Programs [including O&M Defense Health Program]d |
$42.7 |
$42.5 |
$43.6 |
$43.0 |
$42.8 |
|
Related Agenciese |
$1.1 |
$1.2 |
$1.2 |
$1.1 |
$1.1 |
|
IC Mgmt. Account |
$0.6 |
$0.7 |
$0.6 |
$0.6 |
$0.6 |
|
$0.5 |
$0.5 |
$0.5 |
$0.5 |
$0.5 |
|
|
General Provisions |
$-4.4 |
$-0.2 |
$-2.2 |
$4.5 |
$6.7 |
|
- |
- |
- |
- |
$8.0 |
|
|
Rescissions |
$-2.6 |
- |
$-1.2 |
$-0.6 |
-$1.4 |
|
FY2025 funding provisions originating in P.L. 118-47, |
- |
- |
- |
- |
-$1.9 |
|
Total, base discretionary |
$824.5 |
$832.9 |
$833.1 |
$830.9 |
$831.3 |
|
Total, Emergency-designated discretionary |
- |
- |
- |
$20.8 |
$10.0i |
|
Total, Discretionary |
$824.5 |
$832.9 |
$833.1 |
$851.6 |
$841.3 |
|
Total, Mandatory |
$0.5 |
$0.5 |
$0.5 |
$0.5 |
$0.5 |
|
Grand Total (including scorekeeping adjustments) |
$825.0 |
$833.4 |
$833.6 |
$852.2 |
$841.9 |
Source: CRS analysis of Department of Defense, Defense Budget Overview: United States Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request, March 2024, p. A-7; H.R. 8774; S. 4921; H.Rept. 118-557; S.Rept. 118-204; P.L. 118-158; P.L. 119-4.
Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. Values in italics are a subset of values not in italics. Note that "(mandatory) CIA Retirement Fund" is not included in the discretionary total. FY2024 Enacted excludes $67.3 billion in emergency supplemental funding provided by P.L. 118-50. FY2025 House-passed values account for floor amendments adopted after publication of H.Rept. 118-557 and appearing in the enrolled bill text. "RDT&E" means research, development, test, and evaluation; "IC" means intelligence community; "Misc." means miscellaneous. Grand Total includes CBO scorekeeping adjustments.
a. H.Rept. 118-557 accompanying H.R. 8774 lists eight bill titles and depicts TRICARE for Life accrual payments as part of Title I, Military Personnel. "TRICARE for Life" here refers to Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund accrual payments, scored as discretionary spending but appropriated (or transferred from the Treasury General Fund) pursuant to standing law (10 U.S.C. Chapter 56). The full-year CR bill text does not make these amounts explicit; but they are typically incorporated into the CBO score.
b. O&M funding has been presented in DOD budget request documents as including Defense Health Program funding. By contrast, funding tables in congressional appropriations measures typically present the Defense Health Program in a separate title of the bill from the O&M title. As a result, different primary sources may appear to display contradictory values for O&M requested or enacted amounts. This table presents FY2025 requested amounts in a manner consistent with legislative titles in regularly enacted congressional appropriations measures.
c. "Revolving and Management Funds" include Defense Working Capital Fund and National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund.
d. "Other DOD Programs" includes the Defense Health Program; Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction, Defense; Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, Defense; and Office of the Inspector General activities.
e. H.Rept. 118-557 (p. 254) indicates that Title VII of the bill ("Related Agencies") includes account adjustments for "National and Military Intelligence Programs" located "in a separate, detailed, and comprehensive classified annex." The report further indicates that this classified annex details funding for "the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Defense Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, National Security Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the intelligence services of the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the CIA Retirement and Disability Fund." (Similar language exists in S.Rept. 118-204.) Funding amounts for classified programs detailed in the annex are incorporated into budget displays within the unclassified bill text. As noted, funds appropriated to the CIA Retirement and Disability Fund are mandatory spending.
f. CIA Retirement and Disability Fund appropriations are pursuant to the terms of 50 U.S.C. Chapter 38.
g. See Section 1421 of P.L. 119-4. CENTCOM means U.S. Central Command; EUCOM means U.S. European Command. The act provides that this $8.0 billion may be transferred to MILPERS, O&M, or Defense Working Capital Fund (DWCF) accounts following congressional notification. Transferred funds are merged with and available for the same purpose as the gaining account (e.g., if $8 billion were transferred into DWCF accounts, these funds would be non-expiring, or available until expended).
h. These funding provisions include -$1.8 billion in Sections 8026(e), 8034, 8051, 8066, 8068, and 8127-8130 of P.L. 118-47, along with certain estimated requirements (-$0.1 billion) for lease or disposal of DOD real property and annual transfers from DOD to the DOD-VA Incentive Fund and Joint Medical Facility Demonstration Fund.
i. The second FY2025 CR (Division A, P.L. 118-158) included emergency-designated funding for Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy ($5.7 billion in Section 157) and defense-wide O&M ($913.0 million in Section 158) accounts, for a total of $6.6 billion. Division B, Title III of P.L. 118-158, the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2025 included $3.4 billion in emergency-coded appropriations for certain discretionary DOD accounts: $3.0 billion for O&M; $292.8 million for Procurement; $110.7 million for RDT&E; and $17.4 million for the Defense Health Program (i.e., Other DOD Programs).
On March 11, 2024, the Biden Administration released a FY2025 budget requesting a total of $7.5 trillion in new budget authority. Of this total, DOD requested $849.8 billion (11.35% of the federal request) in discretionary funding and $22.4 billion (or 0.3%) in mandatory funding. Of the discretionary total, DOD identified $832.2 billion under defense appropriations subcommittee jurisdiction. H.Rept. 118-557 and S.Rept. 118-204 identified $833.4 billion under defense appropriations subcommittee jurisdiction, including certain mandatory funding.
DOD's FY2025 discretionary budget request—often called the base budget—excluded funding identified in DOD unfunded priorities subsequently submitted to Congress in accordance with 10 U.S.C. §222a, 10 U.S.C. §222b and 10 U.S.C. §222e, or requested in supplemental appropriations.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA; P.L. 118-5) amended the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA; P.L. 99-177) to set limits on new defense and nondefense discretionary budget authority for FY2024 and FY2025. The FRA capped FY2025 discretionary budget authority at $895.2 billion for national defense programs.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the full-year CR (P.L. 119-4) provided an estimated $892.5 billion in new budget authority for national defense programs, $2.7 billion less than the FRA ceiling. Of this total, the act provided $831.3 billion for DOD programs, projects, and activities, while other titles provided the remaining $61.2 billion. In addition, of two prior FY2025 CRs (P.L. 118-83; P.L. 118-158), the latter provided a net total of $6.6 billion in new budget authority for DOD programs designated "emergency requirements" under the BBEDCA, exempted from FRA limits.
The House-passed version of H.R. 8774 proposed $833.0 billion in discretionary budget authority for DOD military programs and $0.5 billion for mandatory programs (see Table 1). The House-passed version of the bill did not contain funding designated for emergency requirements.
The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC)-approved version of S. 4921 proposed $830.9 billion in discretionary budget authority subject to FRA limits, plus $0.5 billion for mandatory programs and $20.8 billion in emergency requirements exempt from FRA limits, for a total of $852.2 billion, which would have been a "$27.2 billion, or 3.3% increase over fiscal year 2024" enacted totals from Division A of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (see Table 1).
Prior to enacting a full-year continuing resolution, Congress funded FY2025 DOD operations through two CRs that generally provided budget authority at FY2024 levels from October 1, 2024, to March 14, 2025. In addition to these funds, the second CR (H.R. 10545; P.L. 118-158) included emergency-designated appropriations for Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy ($5.7 billion) and defense-wide operation and maintenance (O&M) ($913.0 million) accounts, for a total of $6.6 billion (See Table 1.)
The full-year CR (P.L. 119-4) provided $831.3 billion in FY2025 discretionary base budget authority for DOD programs under defense appropriations subcommittee jurisdiction. The enacted bill provided more than DOD requested for military personnel (MILPERS; +$0.5 billion), procurement (+$0.7 billion), and revolving and management funds (+$0.1 billion), and less than DOD requested for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E; -$2.0 billion). While the act itself provided less than DOD requested for O&M (-$6.0 billion), the second CR (P.L. 118-158) provided $0.9 billion in FY2025 emergency-designated O&M funding and Section 1421 of the full-year CR provided an additional $8.0 billion for FY2025 that can be transferred into O&M accounts (among others) for "military operations, force protection, and deterrence" under certain circumstances (See Table 1).
In addition to the $8.0 billion in transferrable funding mentioned above, the full-year CR provided $8.0 billion in FY2025 general transfer authority—allowing DOD to transfer Defense Working Capital Fund balances and appropriated funds into other appropriations accounts (excluding military construction)—and increased FY2024 general transfer authority (P.L. 118-47 Section 8005) from $6.0 billion to $8.0 billion.
The full-year CR did not include a list of line-item level dollar amounts and funding adjustments for DOD programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) in an explanatory statement accompanying the act. Rather, Section 1422 of the full-year CR required DOD, "after consultation with" defense appropriations subcommittees, to submit a detailed "spending, expenditure, or operating plan" for FY2025 within 45 days of enactment (i.e., not later than April 29, 2025). In the week following full-year CR enactment, defense subcommittee leaders in the House and Senate reportedly sent to DOD line-item funding tables "as the first step in consultation with the Department" pursuant to the Section 1422 requirement. On May 8, 2025, DOD submitted a DD 1414 Base for Reprogramming Actions to the defense committees detailing its FY2025 PPA operating plan.
Full-year CR Section 1422 also provided DOD with "new start" authority to initiate PPAs and production-rate increases not previously receiving appropriations in RDT&E and procurement accounts, as long as each such initiative was provided for in either the House-passed (H.R. 8774) or Senate-introduced (S. 4921) versions of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025.