Congress upped the defense budget to $782 billion. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON: A bipartisan agreement among Congressional appropriators has the US finally on the verge of a fiscal 2022 budget, one featuring $782 billion for national defense and an additional $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine.
“I’m proud of this package we approved and responded to Putin’s unprovoked war in Ukraine,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said at the McAleese Conference today.
Included in that national defense total is $728.5 billion for the Defense Department, $13.5 billion more than the department asked for when its budget request rolled out in late May 2021. The appropriator’s agreement comes nearly six months after the fiscal year began, meaning current programs are operating under last year’s funding and new programs have been unable to begin.
The new legislation largely increases the Pentagon’s procurement and research and development accounts, allocating $119 billion in research, development, test and evaluation funding, up $7 billion from the department’s request and $12 billion above the FY21 enacted.
It also allocates about $145 billion for procurement, $12.4 billion above the budget request and $8.4 billion above the last year’s appropriation.
“We were expecting that,” said Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord, referring to the bump in RDT&E and procurement funding.
The omnibus legislation comes after nearly six months of continuing resolutions that led defense leaders to warn Congress of major program delays if the government was forced to operate under a CR for a full-year.
Earlier Wednesday morning, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Armed Services Committee, happily said the bill looks “relatively like a Republican defense bill.”
The omnibus — which still needs to be passed by both chambers and signed into law amidst fights over non-defense dollars — provides substantial increases for several programs. The bill would give the Navy $26.7 billion to buy 13 new ships, $4.1 billion above the request. It also fully funds the Air Force’s request for 85 F-35s, 12 F/A-18E/Fs and 12 F-15EXs.
The Army received increases in funding for several older platforms, as service officials have been sounding the alarm that future budget requests will have to make tough sacrifices to meet its modernization goals. The Army procurement account includes $139 million above the Army request for 41 additional Stryker A1 combat vehicles. Lawmakers are adding an additional $374 million above the Army’s budget request for counter-small Unmanned Aerial Systems, bringing that total to $434 million.
Ukraine Special Funding
The department had asked for $10 billion for Ukraine, McCord said, less than the $13.6 billion appropriators have lined up as a response to Russia’s invasion. Tester argued that it was important to get the funding bill through quickly without obstruction.
“The potential for this thing in Ukraine blowing up, I mean, blowing up … will make you not sleep at night, if you think about it,” Tester said.
McCord praised Congress for finally releasing the bill and including the Ukraine aid, saying that President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address showed “strong bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. We are seeing that in the supplemental,” McCord said. “Very grateful that the Congress jumped on that and I have a feeling that it kind of helped push the thing over the edge and got it done.”
The Ukraine supplemental contains more than $6.5 billion for defense assistance and $4 billion in “dire humanitarian needs,” according to the bill summary.
The Ukrainian assistance bill provides $3 billion for operations mission support, deployment and intelligence support for European Command. It also includes $650 million for the Foreign Military Financing program to build “capacity to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine and its neighbors, including NATO Eastern Flank countries.” Additionally, the spending package includes $3 billion for the Biden administration to transfer defense equipment to Ukraine and other allies.
The omnibus includes an additional $300 million for the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative. It also provides tens of millions to eastern European allies, including $180 million for the Baltic Security Initiative, $30 million for Poland, $30 million for Romania, $20 million for Bulgaria, and $40 million for Georgia.
Defense leaders at the McAleese Conference on Wednesday praised the Ukrainian aid package, with McCord calling the bill a “show of strong support for Ukraine” and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, dubbing it “pretty healthy.”
