WASHINGTON ― Senate Republicans released a government-wide, $1.4 trillion spending package with $696 billion for defense on Tuesday, teeing up 11th hour negotiations in Congress’s tense lame-duck session ― and several fights with House Democrats.
The government is operating on a stopgap continuing resolution, or CR, through Dec. 11, and Congress must either pass a deal, or another funding patch, to avoid a government shutdown in the middle of a turbulent presidential transition. A separate COVID-19 relief effort and the annual defense policy bill are also on Capitol Hill’s busy to-do list.
The Senate must reconcile its long-awaited package of 12 bills with the House, which passed its own bills in July. The Senate’s GOP-drafted defense language for fiscal 2021 differs from the House on the number of Lockheed F-35 joint strike fighters, with one fewer Virginia-class submarines, on the funding for a space-based sensor, and it would spend $19 million more on next-generation 5G networks.
Though the Senate bill was mostly bipartisan and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., expressed confidence in an eventual deal, the atmosphere for compromise is unclear. The post-election period remains white hot politically, as Republican leaders back Trump in his legal challenges of President Elect Joe Biden’s electoral win, and as two races to determine control of the Senate face January runoffs.
On Tuesday, Democrats chided Republicans over the long-stalled bills. Stopping short of endorsing the effort, Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., criticized the legislation for ignoring the country’s COVID-19 relief needs, shortchanging safety net programs and the environment, and for wasting money on President Donald Trump’s border wall.
Appropriators to deny DoD budget flexibility in border wall spat
The House passed its $694.6 billion Pentagon spending bill for fiscal year 2021 back in July as part of a $1.3 trillion package. It included politically charged provisions to set aside $1 million for the Army to rename 10 bases that honor Confederate leaders and to bar the Trump administration from using any more Pentagon funding on the border wall. It would reduce transfer authority from the requested $9.5 billion to $1.9 billion and place additional oversight mechanisms on DoD’s ability to reprogram funds.
Air: The Senate panel would fund a total of 96 F-35s in FY21, 17 jets more than the Pentagon’s request and five more than its House counterpart. Its bill added about $1.7 billion for 12 F-35As for the Air Force and five F-35Cs for the Marine Corps and Navy.
Though the bill fully funds the B-21 bomber program, many of the Air Force’s other major development programs received slight cuts. Funding for one of its biggest priorities, the Advanced Battle Management System, shrank from $302 million to $208 million. The committee cited “poor justification” as a reason for the cuts.
The Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program also would take a hit despite the headline-grabbing first flight of a full-scale demonstrator aircraft, which was disclosed by the service in September. The Air Force wanted $1 billion in fiscal year 2021 to continue development of NGAD― a suite of manned and unmanned air superiority technologies that could include a sixth generation fighter―however the committee shaved about $70 million off the request.
Defense industry worries Congress will punt budget deal into 2021
Naval: The bill provides money to buy nine ships, though some argue it’s only eight because the LPD-17 was already procured. The total comes to roughly $21.35 billion, or $1.44 billion more than the president’s request, but less than the House bill.
The ships include one attack submarines (one less than the House bill but matches what the administration requested), a Constellation-class frigate, two destroyers and two towing and salvage ships.
For Naval Aviation, the Senate bill calls for nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and four E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, as well as 24 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters.
5G: The bill fully funded the Pentagon’s $449 million budget request for defense-wide 5G projects, $19 million more than the House. In their budget justification, House appropriators cited “historical underexecution” for its $430 million recommended allocation. The Pentagon has multiple ongoing 5G experiments with industry underway at military bases across the country, recently awarding $600 million in contracts.
Satellites: The bill also adds to frustrations expressed by members of the House at how a new constellation of hypersonic weapon-tracking satellites will be funded. While technically a Missile Defense Agency program, former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin pushed for the Hypersonic Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor to be funded through the Space Development Agency.
Leaders of both agencies have insisted that the program remains under MDA’s ownership, but legislators have expressed concern over the arrangement and the low level of funding set aside for it. No money was set aside for HBTSS in MDA’s budget, while SDA’s budget included just $20 million for the critical sensor.
In June, the House Armed Services' strategic forces subcommittee threatened to transfer MDA away from the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, placing it instead under the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. While the Senate bill doesn’t go that far, it does add an additional $140 million in unrequested funding for HBTSS, including a $20 million transfer from SDA. Further, senators demanded that the agencies report on their acquisition strategy for HBTSS and fully fund the program in their future budget proposals.