June 26, 2019
FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2500, S. 1790)
Of the $750 billion requested by the Trump Administration
for discretionary spending on National Defense-related
activities in FY2020, approximately $742 billion falls
within the scope of the National Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA). The request includes $718.4 billion for operations
of the Department of Defense (DOD) and $23.2 billion for
defense-related work by the Energy Department involving
nuclear energy, mostly related to nuclear weapons and
nuclear power plants for warships. Other funding for
defense-related activities, such as counter-intelligence work
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), falls under the
jurisdiction of other congressional committees.
Enacted to cover every defense budget since FY1962, the
bill authorizes funding for DOD activities at the same level
of detail at which budget authority is provided by the
corresponding defense and military construction
appropriations bills. See Table 1.
While the NDAA does not provide budget authority,
historically it provided a fairly reliable indicator of
congressional sentiment on funding for particular programs.
The bill also incorporates provisions governing military
compensation, the DOD acquisition process, and aspects of
DOD policy toward other countries, among other subjects.
Table 1. FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2500, S. 1790)
(amounts in billions of dollars of discretionary budget authority)
Sources: H.Rept. 115-874, conference report to accompany H.R. 5515 [FY2019 NDAA], H.Rept. 116-120, conference report to accompany
H.R. 2500 [FY2020 NDAA as reported by HASC]; and S.Rept. 116-48, conference report to accompany S. 1790 [FY2020 NDAA as reported
by SASC].
Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding. HASC is House Armed Services Committee; SASC is Senate Armed Services Committee.
