FY2019 Defense Appropriations Bill: An Overview of House-passed H.R. 6157

FY2019 Defense Appropriations Bill: An Overview of House-passed H.R. 6157

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July 19, 2018
FY2019 Defense Appropriations Bill: An Overview of House-
passed H.R. 6157
H.R. 6157, the FY2019 Defense Appropriations Bill passed
in terms that imply they would have no anticipated adverse
by the House on June 28, would provide $667.5 billion to
impact on DOD programs.
fund all activities of the Department of Defense (DOD)
In effect, these reductions allowed the House committee to
except for the construction of military facilities and the
add billions of dollars to the Administration’s request
operation of military family housing complexes. This
without exceeding the cap on defense spending that arose
amounts to $882 million less than the Administration’s
from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123).
request for this bill, a reduction of slightly more than one-
That cap applies to discretionary appropriations for DOD’s
tenth of 1%. (See Table 1.)
base budget—that is, funding for those activities not
associated with current operations in Afghanistan and Syria,
While the total appropriation would be nearly equal to the
and other operations which are designated by Congress and
request, the House bill would provide more funding than
the President as Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).
requested for dozens of programs, with the gross increase
exceeding $10 billion.
The House-passed bill would provide a 2.9% increase over
Those proposed additions would be offset by hundreds of
the base budget amount appropriated by the FY2018
proposed reductions to the budget request. The House
defense appropriations act (P.L. 115-141, Division C).
Appropriations Committee report to accompany H.R. 6157

(H.Rept. 115-769) characterizes many of these reductions
Table 1. FY2019 Defense Appropriations: House-passed H.R. 6157
amounts in billions of dollars of discretionary budget authority (numbers may not sum due to rounding)
FY2018 Enacted Defense Appropriations
Regular defense
appropriation
Missile defense
House-
[Division C of P.L.
and ship repair
FY2019
passed
Title
115-141]
[P.L. 115-96]
Total
Request
H.R. 6157
Base Budget
Military Personnel
133.4
--
133.4
140.7
139.3
Operation and Maintenance
188.2
0.7
189.0
199.5
197.6
Procurement
133.9
2.4
136.3
130.6
133.0
Research and Development
88.3
1.3
89.7
91.1
91.2
Revolving and Mgmt. Funds
1.7
--
1.7
1.5
1.5
Def. Health Program and Other
36.6
--
36.6
35.8
36.2
Related Agencies
1.1
--
1.1
1.1
1.0
General Provisions
-0.9
--
-0.9
0.1
-0.5
Subtotal: Base Budget
582.3
4.5
586.8
600.3
599.4
Overseas Contingency Ops. (OCO)
65.2
--
65.2
68.1
68.1
Total
647.4
4.5
651.9
668.4
667.5
Source: Congressional Budget Office, “Estimate of H.R. 6157, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019,” July 2, 2018.
Notes: The regular defense appropriations bill for FY2018, initially H.R. 3219, had been enacted as Division C of the FY2019 Omnibus
Appropriations Act, H.R. 1625/P.L. 115-141. An additional $4.5 billion for defense was appropriated as a part of the third FY2018 Continuing
Resolution (H.R. 1370/P.L. 115-96). These funds, designated as “emergency” spending (and, thus, exempt from the BCA-originated cap on
discretionary defense spending), were to accelerate improvements in missile defenses and other activities oriented toward North Korea and to
repair two Pacific Fleet destroyers damaged in collisions. The table does not include two other pools of discretionary budget authority
appropriated for these DOD accounts in FY2018: $434 million to repair hurricane damage, designated as emergency funding, that was
appropriated as part of the fifth Continuing Resolution (H.R. 1892/P.L. 115-123); and $8.1 billion in accrual payments to fund the TRICARE for
Life program of medical insurance for military retirees, funding for which is appropriated automatically, as a matter of permanent law (10 U.S.C.
1111-1117).
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FY2019 Defense Appropriations Bill: An Overview of House-passed H.R. 6157
However, before the regular FY2018 defense bill was
 “Readiness Restoration.” The bill would add a total of
passed, an additional $4.5 billion had been appropriated for
$1 billion, spread across the Operation and Maintenance
the FY2018 DOD base budget as part of the third
(O&M) accounts of the service components, for
Continuing Resolution for FY2018 (P.L. 115-96). If these
“Readiness Restoration.” The committee report on the
funds—associated chiefly with missile defense programs
bill says that the funds should be used “only to improve
relating to North Korea and the repair of two Pacific Fleet
military readiness,” and lists training, depot
destroyers—are counted as part of the FY2018 base budget
maintenance, and base operation support as suitable
appropriation, the base budget increase provided by H.R.
uses, while prohibiting the use of these funds for
6157 would be 2.2%.
advertising, marketing, or recruiting.
Proposed Cuts
 Additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The bill would
As described in the House committee report, some of the
provide $9.4 billion to procure 93 F-35 fighters, an
bill’s proposed cuts to the Administration request reflect
increase of $1.7 billion over the $7.7 billion request.
disagreement with DOD on the merits of the program at
The increase would buy an additional eight planes for
issue. For example, the bill would cut $267.5 million from
the Air Force, six planes equipped for carrier operations,
the $718.9 million requested to develop an unmanned
and two of the short-takeoff/vertical landing version
airplane to operate from Navy carriers because—according
used by the Marine Corps.
to the committee report—those funds would not be needed
to carry out the work planned for FY2019.
 National Guard and Reserve Equipment. The bill
would add to the budget request a total of $2.4 billion
Similarly, the bill would deny $20.2 million the Navy
for equipment used by the reserve units of the four
requested to shut down the production line for Tomahawk
armed forces as well as by the Army and Air National
long-range cruise missiles. In its budget justification
documents, the Navy proposed transitioning from
Guard. The total includes $1.3 billion for a
producing new Tomahawks to upgrading the existing
congressionally-sponsored account to pay for mission-
supply of approximately 4,000 missiles with “anti-access
critical equipment other than major weapons, which the
area denial (A2AD) modernization kits.” The committee
four services are supposed to buy for National Guard
asserted that the Navy’s Tomahawk inventory is too low to
and reserve units. The increase also includes $168
start with and that it is being depleted by the expenditure of
million for six Apache attack helicopters, $156 million
Tomahawks in ongoing combat operations.
for eight Black Hawk transport helicopters, $100 million
for HMMWV (“Hum-vee”) modernization for the Army
However, the committee report describes hundreds more
National Guard, and $640 million for eight C-130 cargo
proposed reductions—with a total value in excess of $10
aircraft for the Air National Guard.
billion—in terms that imply that they would have no
adverse impact on DOD operations. Most of these
 Science and Technology R&D. The bill would make a
reductions involve amounts of less than $50 million. For
gross addition of $839 million to the $13.7 billion
example, according to the House Appropriations
requested for the type of research and development
Committee report:
activity that DOD designates as science and technology
 Some of the proposed cuts could be offset by unspent
(S&T). This is relatively speculative research aimed at
funds left over from prior fiscal years (which the report
developing novel technologies in contrast to research to
labels as “unobligated balances”);
develop specific types of operational equipment.
 Some are consistent with a program’s track record of
 Carriers and Submarines. The bill would provide the
spending each year less than its appropriation;
$1.6 billion requested for components that would be
 Some are intended to restrain the rate of increase over a
used in aircraft carriers slated for funding in future
program’s FY2018 appropriation; and
budgets. During floor debate on the bill, the House

agreed to an amendment that would allow those
Some are described in the committee report as
components to be used in two future carriers rather than
premature, sometimes because of delays in the program
one, as the committee-reported bill would have required.
in question.
The Navy says allowing the funds’ use for two ships
would reduce their combined cost. The House rejected
The House bill also incorporates reductions to the request—
an amendment that would have cut a total of $1 billion
totaling nearly $4 billion—that the committee report labels
from several projects and allocated those funds to buy
as “unjustified” or based on flawed DOD accounting of
components that would support the procurement in
congressional action on the FY2018 budget request.
future budgets of more submarines than are currently
Selected Funding Increases
planned.
 Facilities Modernization and Repair. The bill would

add $1.5 billion to the $12.3 billion requested for
maintenance, repair, and modernization of DOD
Pat Towell, Specialist in U.S. Defense Policy and Budget
facilities and for the demolition of facilities no longer in
IF10928
use. That increase includes $450 million for healthcare
facilities, a 42% increase over the budget request.

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FY2019 Defense Appropriations Bill: An Overview of House-passed H.R. 6157

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