The House Armed Services Committee voted 57-1 early Thursday to pass its version of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act with an amendment that increased discretionary topline figures by $37 billion.
HASC members completed the panel’s markup of the bill authorizing $850 billion in total national defense spending after 17 hours of debates and negotiations over more than 2,000 proposed amendments, the office of Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., said Thursday.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, sponsored the amendment to boost funding levels that would help the Department of Defense offset inflation-related costs and procure weapons systems.
“The bill supports the largest service member pay raise in decades, expands the talent pipeline, and partners with research institutions to accelerate the development of cutting-edge technologies that will support those in uniform,” said HASC Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash.
The passage of HASC’s defense policy bill comes after the House Appropriations Committee approved a $761.7 billion defense funding bill through a 32-26 vote Wednesday, which represents a $32.2 billion increase from the FY 2022 enacted level.