In Brief: Highlights of FY2018 Defense Appropriations Actions (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Aug. 2, 2017 |
| Report Number |
R44908 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Williams, Lynn M.;Towell, Pat |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
On July 27, 2017, by a vote of 235-192, the House passed H.R. 3219, "The Defense, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Legislative Branch, and Energy and Water Development National Security Appropriations Act, 2018," also referred to as the "Make America Secure Appropriations Act, 2018." Division A of that bill would appropriate $650.4 billion in discretionary funding for national defense activities within the jurisdiction of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. This would amount to a 4.5% increase over the Administration's $622.1 billion request.
As reported by the House Appropriations Committee on June 29, 2017, H.R. 3219 was the Defense Appropriations Bill for FY2018. Subsequently, the text of that bill was expanded to incorporate the texts of H.R. 3266 (Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018), H.R. 2998 (Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018), and H.R. 3162 (Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2018). The resulting bill retained the bill number that had been assigned to the Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 3219).
Division A of H.R. 3219 would provide a net of $576.4 billion for DOD base budget activities (excluding military construction). For the DOD base budget â a term commonly used refer to funds that cover routine activities not associated with ongoing deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq -- the bill would make specific changes to the President's $558.2 million request that would amount to a net increase of $567 million. The bill also would add to the base budget $18.6 billion in base budget authority for a newly established "National Defense Restoration Fund" or NDRF. Compared with the legally binding cap on defense-related discretionary spending in FY2018 that was set by the Budget Control Act of 2011, Division A of H.R. 3219 would exceed that limit by nearly $73 billion if Congress appropriated the amounts requested for the other defense-related spending covered by the BCA cap.
H.R. 3219 also would appropriate $73.9 billion in new budget authority designated for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)â$10.0 billion more than the President's request. Like the additional $18.6 billion provided for base budget requirements, this $10.0 billion addition to OCO appropriations would be provided as part of the NDFR. Appropriations designated by Congress and the President as OCO are not subject to the BCA spending limitations on discretionary appropriations.
