The House Armed Services Committee has officially started crafting the annual defense policy bill, introducing the so-called “by request” version of the bill Thursday.
“This procedural measure is traditionally the first step in the legislative process for the” National Defense Authorization Act, the committee said in a statement. “The legislation filed this week does not reflect any substantive work by the Armed Services Committee. Rather, provisions contained in the bill reflect legislative proposals submitted by the Department of Defense.”
The text of the “by request” version will eventually by stripped out of the bill and replaced with the committee’s version, which is scheduled to be marked up June 28.
Thursday’s move starts a process that has been delayed this year, since the Trump administration did not release its full fiscal 2018 budget proposal until May.
President Trump proposed a $603 billion base defense budget for fiscal 2018, well below the $640 billion that defense hawks such as Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) had said was necessary to fix what they describe as an urgent “readiness crisis.”
The number Trump proposed left out much of equipment and troop levels defense hawks wanted and he had promised on the campaign trail, including no additional new soldiers, no more ships than the Obama administration had planned and eight fewer aircraft than the Obama administration had planned.
As such, defense watchers are waiting to see whether the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will follow the $640 billion plan or hew closer to Trump’s $603 billion proposal.
Some pieces of the committee’s NDAA have already been released, including Thornberry’s annual acquisition reform efforts and his proposal for $2.1 billion for Asia-Pacific security.
Defense Secretary James Mattis is scheduled to testify before the House Armed Services Committee on Monday night, where he’s sure to be pressed for an explanation as to why the budget proposal was not higher, along with a host of policy questions.