Part of the Ukraine aid is safe
USA launches record defense budget
December 14, 2023, 9:35 p.m
The defense budget is one of the few packages that Republicans and Democrats can agree on in the current political climate. Expenses are growing every year and given the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, this is unlikely to change any time soon.
The US Congress has passed a record defense budget with a large majority. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted for the $886 billion bill, three percent more than last year. On Wednesday, the Senate voted for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Joe Biden’s signature was considered secure.
The NDAA also extends a portion of Ukraine aid to the end of 2026 at $300 million per year. However, Democrat Biden has asked Congress for $61 billion. No agreement has yet been reached on this.
The annual military budget includes everything from pay raises for troops – up 5.2 percent this year – to purchases of ships, ammunition and aircraft, to policies such as support for Ukraine and action against China in the Indo-Pacific region. It will be passed separately from the regular federal budget and is one of the few legislative packages that both major parties can agree on in the current political climate.
The NDAA has now been passed for 63 consecutive years. This year’s 3,100-page package also extends a controversial domestic surveillance program by four months. This is intended to give lawmakers more time to either reform or maintain Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The regulation grants the police access to data collected by foreign intelligence services without a court order. In July it became known that the Federal Police FBI had, among other things, conducted unlawful searches about a US senator.