The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday, December 15, 2022, to pass the final defense authorization bill for the fiscal year 2023, clearing the sweeping measure for President Joe Biden’s signature.

The Senate’s final NDAA passage vote was 83-11, and 60 votes were required. The House passed the bicameral compromise on December 8.

When Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed noted that the bill is named after the committee’s top Republican, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, the chamber resounded with applause. Reed said that Inhofe’s committee leadership, both in the majority and minority, had been “monumental.” Inhofe is retiring at the end of this year, making this action very significant for the future of the Armed Services Committee.

With the enactment of the bill, Washington will have authorized spending at about $858 billion on defense programs in this fiscal year, mainly at the Pentagon. That is $45 billion, or five percent, more than Biden asked for in March.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the total amount of authorized funding would be about 10 percent higher than the fiscal 2022 level.

The funds have yet to be appropriated, but congressional leaders hope to clear an omnibus spending bill sometime between December 19-23, 2022.

The final NDAA is noteworthy for several reasons. It would rescind a 2021 Defense Department directive that troops be vaccinated against the coronavirus unless they have an allowable exemption for medical or religious reasons. Something EANGUS has led the charge, having conducted Call-to-Actions that sent thousands of letters to congressional representatives. 

Full Bill:

https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-117HR7776EAS-RCP117-70.pdf

Provisions cited below are authorizations only and do not indicate funding.

Summary funding: H.R. 7776 authorizes $857.9 B in total National Defense spending.

FY23 Defense Funding Authorization

Department of Defense

$816.7 B

Department of Energy

30.3 B

NDAA Topline

847.3 B

Defense-related Activities Outside NDAA Jurisdiction

10.6 B

Total National Defense Topline

$857.9 B

Army National Guard

  • Authorizes funding for ARNG to end-strength at 325,000Soldiers (Sec. 411)
    • Authorizes 30,845 AGR positions
    • Authorizes 22,294 Dual-Status Technicians
    • Authorizes 17,000 ADOS positions
  • Limits production on Extended Range Cannon Artillery Howitzers (Sec. 111)
  • Authorizes $7.85 B in ARNG Operations and Maintenance (Sec. 4301) Limits production on Extended Range Cannon Artillery Howitzers (Sec. 111)
  • Authorizes $7.85 B in ARNG Operations and Maintenance (Sec. 4301)

Air National Guard

  • Authorizes funding for ANG to end strength at 108,400Airmen (Sec. 411)
    • Authorizes 25,333 AGR positions
    • Authorizes 10,994 Dual-Status Technicians
    • Authorizes 16,000 ADOS positions
  • Modifies Combat Air Forces Total Aircraft Inventory(Sec. 141)
    • Reduces requirement from 1,970 to 1,800 total aircraft
    • Reduces A-10 requirement from 171 to 153 aircraft
    • Limits funds for destruction of A-10 aircraft in storage status
  • Modifies Air Refueling Total Aircraft Inventory(Sec. 142)
    • Reduces requirement from 479 to 466 total aircraft
    • Limits reduction of reserve components KC-135 to no more than 12 aircraft
  • Requires development of a plan to transfer KC-135s to the Air National Guard (Sec. 155)
  • Requires minimum inventory of 271 C-130s(Sec. 146)
  • Limits retirement of F-22 aircraft(Sec. 143)
    • Requires minimum inventory of 184 aircraft
    • Limits Divestment of F-15 aircraft(Sec. 150)
  • Authorizes $6.9 B in ANG Operations and Maintenance (Sec. 4301)
  • Authorizes $364.1 M in ANG Military Construction (Sec. 4601)
    • $215.3 M above President’s Budget Request

Joint-Personnel

  • Authorizes a 4.6 percent military and civilian personnel pay raise
  • Backdates effective date of rank for reserve officers in the National Guard due to delays in Federal Recognition (Sec. 513)
    • Triggers after the 100-day mark
    • Implementation date: January 1, 2024
    • Establishment of an independent study on Federal Recognition of National Guard Officers (Sec. 519)
  • Expansion of National Guard unit/personnel inspections to include compliance with Federal law and policy applicable to the National Guard (Sec. 514)
    • Includes policies issued by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department concerned, or the Chief National Guard Bureau
  • Review of titling and indexing practices of the Army for servicemembers in connection to the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program (Sec. 549)
  • Expansion of transitional healthcare for members of the National Guard following 502(f) orders in response to a Presidential Declared Emergency (Sec. 702)
  • Requires a study on providing Tricare Reserve Select and dental benefits to members of the selected reserve (Sec. 707)
  • Extends the one-year authorization of specific expiring bonuses and special pay authorities for members of the reserve components (Sec. 601)
  • Extends requirement for an annual National Guard and Reserve Equipment Report (Sec. 1059)
  • Expands the authority of the Secretary of Defense to transfer excess aircraft to states(Sec. 1060)
  • Inclusion of Natural and Man-made Disaster response items in CNGB unfunded priorities report (Sec. 384)
  • Supports National Guard training for wildfire prevention and response(Sec. 385)
  • Continued National Guard support for the Fireguard program(Sec. 516)
  • Enhancement of the National Guard Youth Challenge program (Sec. 517)
  • Requires notice to Congress before deactivation, reassignment, or home station move of a unit in specific reserve components (Sec. 518)
  • Recission of COVID-19vaccination mandate (Sec. 525)
  • Expands Defense Environmental Restoration Program access to state-owned Guard facilities (Sec. 313)
  • Addresses PFAS/PFOA contamination on military facilities (Sec. 341-346)
  • Authority to waive the requirement that the performance of active guard and reserve duty at the request of a governor may not interfere with specific responsibilities (Sec. 515)

The bill is also a milestone in the campaign to change prosecutions in the military justice system. The fiscal 2022 NDAA had shifted key prosecution powers for certain crimes from military commanders to trained prosecutors. This year’s NDAA would further grow those powers and expand the covered crimes from 11 to 14, including sexual harassment.

The NDAA would authorize about $10 billion over five years in grants to Taiwan to purchase U.S.-made military equipment and $1 billion a year in weapons for Taiwan drawn from U.S. stocks.

The measure also would endorse $11 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.

For more information on the FY2023 NDAA or any other National Guard issues, please do not hesitate to contact Kevin Hollinger at kevin@eangus.org or contact him direct at (202) 670-1826