2024 Defense Bills Emphasize Innovation, But Passage in Question.

• Author: Carberry, Sean

In theory, everyone knows what the 2024 defense budget will be. The debt ceiling deal signed into law in May set a cap on total defense spending of $886 billion.

So far, House and Senate drafts of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act authorize $886 billion in defense spending, of which $844 billion would go to the Defense Department. That would be a $28 billion increase over 2023 enacted funding, although much, if not all, of that increase would be lost to inflation.

However, betting that an $886 billion defense budget kicks in on Oct. 1 is a dangerous gamble.

Odds are high that fiscal year 2024 will start under a continuing resolution. Congress could also increase defense funding through an emergency appropriation to cover additional aid to Ukraine, inflation or some other pressing need.

In fact, as Mark Cancian, senior adviser for the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies noted to National Defense in an email, the Senate Armed Services Committee is calling for the president to request supplemental funding.

"That puts pressure on the administration and is an invitation to defense hawks to take action later," Cancian stated.

Elaine McCusker, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former deputy undersecretary of defense (comptroller), said in an email it was encouraging to see the Senate call for additional spending, as she believes the 2024 budget underfunds readiness, procurement and facilities improvements.

"The department said the 2024 budget request was a 'procurement' budget. Yet the request for these accounts didn't even keep pace with inflation," she said. "We need to actually buy stuff in order to have both the military capacity and capability we need. We have not been doing this, which has also negatively impacted the industrial base, the supply chain and the workforce."

While more is needed to speed up the development and acquisition of new technologies, the congressional marks do place emphasis on making the department a smarter and more agile customer of innovative technologies, she said.

In addition to the NDAA marks, the House Appropriations Committee's 2024 defense bill is particularly bullish on new technologies and rapid acquisition and fielding. The committee's report on its bill states:

"After observing the use of nontraditional weapons from nontraditional sources in Ukraine, the committee supports maturing and focusing 'innovation organizations' on...