On Tuesday, the Senate passed the massive $778 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a vote of 89 to 10.
The legislation is a compromise version of the NDAA that was already passed by the House and now just needs President Biden’s signature to become law. Congress added $25 billion more to the spending bill than Biden requested.
The bill authorizes $740.3 billion for the Pentagon, $27.8 billion for the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons program, and $9.9 billion for “Defense-related Activities Outside NDAA Jurisdiction.”
In September, the House passed a different version of the NDAA that included an amendment from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) that would have ended US support for the war in Yemen, but the measure was stripped from the compromise version. A provision that would have required women to register for the military draft was also removed.
The NDAA passage comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Russia, and the bill includes $300 million for military aid to Ukraine, $50 million more than what the Pentagon requested. According to The Wall Street Journal, at least $75 million of the Ukraine aid will be “lethal,” meaning it will be spent on offensive weapons, such as Javelin anti-tank missiles the US has already provided to Kyiv.
With the Pentagon focused on countering China, the NDAA includes $7.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI). The PDI is meant to build up US forces in the Asia Pacific to better confront China. Part of the plan is to establish a network of long-range missiles near China’s coast.
Are we gearing up for war?…
Isn’t that obvious?
Hi Tom:
Yes, it is rather obvious and it makes me terribly upset…
Hi Tom:
Yes, you are correct about it being obvious and it scares the heck out of me.
Nays:
Booker (D-NJ)
Braun (R-IN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Lee (R-UT)
Markey (D-MA)
Merkley (D-OR)
Padilla (D-CA)
Paul (R-KY)
Sanders (I-VT)
Warren (D-MA)
Wyden (D-OR)
Eleven … and a few of these would probably not vote against if their vote was the deciding vote. But instructive that even on a very safe vote, only eleven chose to vote against this monstrosity.
I would guess several would fit in the “deciding vote” factor. Real nays: Lee, Paul, Sanders, Warren, and Wyden. Know nothing about Braun, Markey, Merkley or Padilla.
yup … Booker and Gillibrand would fold like wet paper towels … Padilla too, likely …
“The legislation is a compromise version of the NDAA that was already passed by the House and now just needs President Biden’s signature to become law. Congress added $25 billion more to the spending bill than Biden requested.”
Shouldn’t that extra $25 billion warrant a veto?
Yes. And that $25 billion needs to go to Main Street.
I cannot stand listening to Congressman but I would have enjoyed hearing at least on eof them say, ‘this is just a down payment’ as if our military budget has been neglected over the years.
BTW this means we are starting out at $7.8T over 10yrs, not counting interest on the debt.
What was the point in that?
Bipartisan support to dump such a ridiculous amount money into the military ever year (even more than what the government asked for). And how will this affect inflation? No debate at all. Congress is just a rubber stamp for the military’s unlimited budget every year.
778 + 778 + 778 + into infinity.
Why would 778 be the ceiling? I see 800+ in the near future.
Talk about Epstein, now this is really obscene, …and Biden and the Dems, to keep the money flowing in, feeling the need to prove they’re even better whores for the MIC than the Repubs. K St., not Congress, is the Legislature of the United States.
Any resemblance between this bill’s contents and what would actually constitute “defense” is purely coincidental. Also, note that this bill does not include the “intelligence” and “energy” budgets, which are also mainly military in nature.
Thank you for bringing that up.
NONE of it is for “defense”. All the USA’s problems are internal or caused by its needling and provoking of “adversaries” as it cannot bear the thought of peace, and certainly not of accepting different ways of life than the US model.
The military should be seen, not as a sacred cow, but as a an obscenely bloated and dangerous jobs program with a massively negative ROI.
In 1995 Biden called Social Security and Medicare “sacred cows”. I don’t think he has changed.
“On Tuesday, the Senate passed the massive $778 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a vote of 89 to 10.”____ Scamming US taxpayers as usual by congress… it is actually “National Offence Authorization Act (NOAA)”…!
Most of this money will be wasted (stolen) by MIC and achieves nothing whatsoever for US public…! There is no threat from any country to US…! But MIC wants wars even if they results in US defeats every time…!
More F-35 aircraft. More failures, in general. More special ops in more places.
I guess no dividend for the Afghan withdrawal.
I wonder how much of this is bioweapons reasearch? Now that EcoHealth and Wuhan are busted who will they launder the research through?
Add the same amount next year and what is that total? Someone please tell me what the BBB price tag is.
Wash. just lost another war, and this insane amount of money is all about starting the next war, but this time it won’t be fought, ‘over there’, when the missiles hit US cities and Americans see their children lying dead in the rubble of their homes, they will finally get a clue that wars aren’t a sporting event to watch on TV, and will also understand finally what Wash. has done to other countries for decades. Karma is a force of nature and the masses will reap what their ‘leaders’ have sown.
It is wonderful that a country has so much spare cash it can put aside $778 billion for something it calls “defense” but uses only for aggression.
‘but how will we pay for it’ ??
The usual. Cut social services.
Hardly “the usual.” From 1960 to 2019, “social services” spending increased by a multiple of 3 in constant dollars.
Shock& Horror!! How do the upper Classes tolerate us Humans still living ?!?