US Congress backs massive $700 billion defence bill, but source of funding uncertain

The US House of Representatives passed a US$700 billion defence policy bill on Tuesday, backing President Donald Trump’s call for a bigger, stronger military, but failing to decide how to fund the massive spending increase.

The Republican-controlled House voted 356-70 for the annual National Defence Authorisation Act, or NDAA, which authorises the level of defence spending and sets policies controlling how the money is spent.

But the legislation defies spending caps set in the 2011 Budget Control Act and there is no clear plan from Congress on how to provide the money for the Pentagon. The 2018 NDAA authorises US$634 billion in base defence spending, for such things as buying weapons and paying the troops, well above the US$549 billion allowed under the previous legislation.

The NDAA also includes provisions such as an increase in active troop levels by more than 16,000, and states that climate change is a national security threat.

The defence policy bill will become law if it passes the Republican-controlled Senate and is signed into law by the president, as expected. But spending will nonetheless be cut automatically if Congress cannot come up with a deal to resolve the gap in funding.

Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said Congress’ failure to address the issue makes life more difficult for military leaders because they cannot plan in advance.