WASHINGTON—Congress completed its work Thursday on the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023. The bill passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 83-11, following on the heels of a 350-80 vote in the House of Representatives.    

The NDAA includes a total of $857.9 billion for national defense funding to provide the resources necessary to counter the threats posed by China and Russia, while also modernizing the U.S. military and supporting service members and their families.  

Retired Lt. Gen. Tom Spoehr, director of Heritage’s Center for National Defense, released the following statement Friday on passage of the NDAA: 

“The passage of this year’s NDAA is a win for national security and a military that is in desperate need of resources and manpower. It ensures the men and women serving in our military receive the pay, benefits, and resources necessary to provide for their families and protect our nation, while also funding many of the strategic priorities critical to countering the threats of the Chinese Communist Party, Russia, and other adversaries.  

 

“It thankfully side-stepped several non-defense issues more properly dealt with elsewhere. This bill is a critical step in the right direction for strengthening our military at a time when our interests around the world remain in jeopardy and U.S. military strength is in decline.” 

Maiya Clark, Heritage senior research associate covering the defense industrial base, added: 

“In many respects, this was a landmark year for defense industrial base legislation. The NDAA provides vital funding and emergency authorities for munitions, allowing the U.S. to refill our stockpiles after providing military aid to Ukraine. The bill authorizes more than $2.7 billion in general munitions funding, on top of $5.9 billion for Navy munitions procurement and industrial base investment. This increase, along with investments in the National Defense Stockpile and authorization for multiyear buys of munitions, demonstrates a serious commitment to strengthening our military, aiding our allies, and countering a rising China.” 

Other notable bill highlights include: 

• Funding to provide a pay raise of 4.6% for military service members and other efforts to ease the impacts of inflation. 

• Authorizing expenditures to invest in equipment, including aircraft, combat vehicles, Navy ships, long-range missiles and fires, and submarines to modernize the force. 

• Providing increased allowance for housing in high-cost areas to help service members deal with skyrocketing housing costs. 

• Investing in modern military equipment, including hypersonic weapons, biotechnologies, and artificial intelligence. 

• Confronting challenges in the Pacific and Eastern Europe to counter threats from China and Russia by investing in partners such as Taiwan and Ukraine through such initiatives as the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act of 2022 and Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. 

The full text of the NDAA can be found here.