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Summary

The President?s FY2009 federal budget request, released February 4, 2008, included $611.1 billion in new budget authority for national defense. This total included $515.4 billion in discretionary new budget authority for the base budget of the Department of Defense (DOD) ? i.e., activities not associated with combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The budget included an additional $2.9 billion in mandatory spending for the DOD base budget and $22.8 billion for defense costs of the Department of Energy and other agencies. In addition to the $541.1 billion requested for the base line (i.e., non-war cost) budget, the request also included an unallocated placeholder of $70 billion to cover war costs in the first part of FY2009. On April 30 the Senate Armed Services Committee marked up its version of the FY2009 defense authorization bill (S. 3001), authorizing the appropriation of $612.5 billion in new budget authority for national security programs, including $542.5 billion for the base line budget and a $70 billion allowance for war-related costs. The committee approved without major change the funding requests for several programs that have been the subject of controversy, including the Army?s Future Combat Systems (FCS) and the Navy?s DDG-1000 destroyer. On September 17, the Senate passed the authorization bill by a vote of 88-8. Because of a controversy over earmarks, the Senate considered only four amendments to the bill, adopting three. The House had passed its version of the defense authorization bill (H.R. 5658) on May 22 authorizing $612.5 billion, including $70 billion for war-related costs. The bill would deny authorization of the $2.5 billion requested for a third destroyer of the DDG-1000 class, allocating those funds instead to buy several other ships. A compromise between the House and Senate bills, authorizing $612.5 billion, was worked out informally by the House and Senate Armed Services committees. It was passed by the House September 24 as an amended version of the Senate-passed S. 3001 by a vote of 392-39. The Senate passed the compromise bill September 27 by voice vote, clearing the measure for the President. The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its version of the FY2009 Defense Appropriations Bill on July 30, recommending a total of $487.7 billion, which the panel said was $4 billion less than the President requested for that bill. The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its version of the appropriations Bill on September 10, also recommending $487.7 billion. Neither chamber held full committee markups of a FY2009 defense appropriations bill, and neither chamber considered a bill on the floor. Instead, a compromise version of the subcommittee bills -- in effect, a conference agreement on the FY2009 defense appropriations bill -- was incorporated into H.R. 2638, the FY2009 continuing resolution, which the House passed September 24 by a vote of 370-58. The Senate passed the bill September 27 by a vote of 78-12, clearing the measure for the President. This report will be updated as developments warrant.

Related Legislation:
• S.3001
• H.R.5658
• H.R.2638

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