Congress Increases Innovation Funding, Again.

• Author: Carberry, Sean
• Position: BUDGET MATTERS

The cat and mouse game between the White House and Congress over innovation funding in the annual defense budget continues.

Here's the gist of it: The administration presents its annual defense budget proposal. It touts the request for research, development, test and evaluation funding, and states it is a significant increase over the previous year's request.

Then, members dig into the proposal and chide the administration for requesting less science-and-technology funding than what Congress authorized and appropriated the previous year. During a May hearing, representatives criticized the budget request and questioned the administration's commitment to innovation in defense technology.

And as expected, the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act the House Armed Services Committee passed by a 57-1 vote in June increased research, development, test and evaluation funding above what the administration requested.

The budget request was $130 billion--the highest amount ever requested for innovation funding--and the House countered with $138 billion, a 7 percent increase.

"Patterns get set, and I think to some degree when the president's budget comes out you can see that they're putting money over here because they know the Congress is going to plus-up over there," said House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., during a media round-table prior to the committee vote on the NDAA. "I don't know that we change that anytime soon."

The House's defense budget increases innovation funding at all levels: basic research, applied research, advanced technology development and on down the line. All the services, except for the Space Force, get significant innovation funding boosts in the House budget.

Specific areas the House increased include additive manufacturing, hypersonics, collaborative networked armament lethality and fire control, counter-unmanned aerial systems technology, biotechnology, hybrid electric vehicles and lithium battery technology.

The HASC budget increases the Army's science-and-technology funding to $3.8 billion, a 40 percent jump from the requested $2.7 billion. However, the $3.8 billion is less than the $4.3 billion the Army received in fiscal year 2022. So, with inflation factored in, the 2023 funding is a notable drop from 2022 funding.

Similarly, the 2023 HASC funding is slightly less than what the Navy and Air Force received in 2022 science-and-technology money. Hence, the increase to the topline research...