August 7, 2018
FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act: An Overview of
H.R. 5515
The FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
approved by Congress would authorize $708.1 billion in
discretionary appropriations for national defense-related
activities of the Department of Defense (DOD) and other
agencies. The bill (H.R. 5515) would authorize $16 billion
(2.3%) more than the amount authorized by the FY2018
NDAA (P.L. 115-91) and match the amount requested by
the Administration.
The bill would authorize $639.1 billion for so-called base
budget activities—activities DOD and other agencies would
pursue even if U.S. forces were not engaged in operations
in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. This figure
includes $616.9 billion for DOD, $21.9 billion for defense-
related atomic energy programs of the Department of
Energy, and $300 million for other defense-related
activities.
The bill would also authorize additional DOD
appropriations totaling $69 billion—funding designated for
Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)—to cover the
incremental cost of U.S. operations in the Middle East and
South Asia as well as other costs Congress and President
Donald Trump agree to designate for OCO.
The legislation would authorize a level of funding that is
consistent with the spending limits (or caps) on defense
activities originally established by the Budget Control Act
of 2011 (P.L. 112-25) and amended most recently by the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123). The FY2019
defense spending cap is $647 billion and applies to
discretionary programs within the national defense budget
function (excluding OCO). The cap includes programs
outside the scope of the NDAA and for which the
Administration requested approximately $8 billion. Thus,
the portion of the cap applicable to spending directly
authorized by the NDAA is approximately $639 billion.
On May 24, 2018, the House passed H.R. 5515, an
amended version of the NDAA reported by the House
Armed Services Committee. The Senate replaced the
House-passed text of the bill with the text of S. 2987, the
version of the NDAA reported by the Senate Armed
Services Committee, and passed its amended version on
June 18. The initial conference report to H.R. 5515 filed on
July 23 required revision, so the House sent it back to
conference. A new conference report filed on July 25
(H.Rept. 115-874) became the basis for further
congressional action.
The House approved the final version of the bill on July 26
and the Senate passed it on August 1. The legislation, if
signed by the President before October 1, would mark the
first NDAA since the FY1997 version enacted prior to the
start of the fiscal year.
Table 1. National Defense Authorizations
(in billions of dollars of discretionary budget authority)
