June 21, 2021 Update
[New information bolded and italicized]
Last week, the House easily approved Rep. Barbara Lee’s (D-CA) bill to repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) in Iraq by a vote of 268-161. The bill attracted support from 49 Republicans, and lost the vote of only one Democrat, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA). The White House endorsed the effort and Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that there will be a Senate vote.
On June 22, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to consider a Kaine (D-VA)-Young (R-IN) bill to repeal the 2002 Iraq War authorization, as well as the 1991 authorization for the Gulf War.
Also last week, House Budget Chair John Yarmuth put forward what is called a “deeming” resolution, a procedural device the permits the House to begin voting on the $1.5 billion federal budget. The House approved the resolution on June 14 when adopting the rule on two unrelated bills 216-206.
With this procedure completed, the House Appropriations has released its markup schedule for its dozen Fiscal Year 2022 spending bills:
House Appropriations subcommittee markups:
6/25: Military Construction, Veterans Affairs
6/28: State, Foreign Operations
6/30: Defense
7/12: Energy & Water
Full House Appropriations committee markups:
6/30: Military Construction, Veterans Affairs
7/1: State, Foreign Operations
7/13: Defense
7/16: Energy & Water
The House Armed Services also released its markup schedule:
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
10:00 a.m. — Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems Markup
12:00 p.m. — Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Markup
2:00 p.m. — Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces Markup
3:30 p.m. — Subcommittee on Military Personnel Markup
Thursday, July 29, 2021
10:00 a.m. — Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces Markup
12:00 p.m. — Subcommittee on Readiness Markup
2:00 p.m. — Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations Markup
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
10:00 a.m. — Full Committee Markup
In the Senate, the Armed Services Committees is expected to take up the annual FY 2022 Defense Authorization bills at some point in July and Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said he hopes to begin markups in July.
Click here for some of the key introduced national security measures.
Key Fiscal Year 2022 National Security Bills
Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Bill
Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Appropriations Bill
Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Resolution
At the end of May, the Biden administration released its long awaited detailed fiscal year 2022 budget. The top line number is $753 billion for defense spending, a 1.7 percent increase from the final enacted Trump budget. The request included $715 billion for the Pentagon.
Despite a budget review of about four and a half months, the Biden team requested a nuclear weapons budget of $43.2 billion, with very little variation from the Trump administration’s proposals. Indeed, the request funds, or even expands, nearly every nuclear program from the Trump administration.
The new request was not consistent with President Biden’s campaign rhetoric or the Democratic Party platform. Progressives will look to reduce the request while conservatives will attempt to raise it.
Click here for a detailed analysis of the new defense budget by Council for a Livable World’s sister organization, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
Neither the House nor the Senate is expected to adopted a Budget Resolution this year, instead both the House and Senate are expected to adopt a “deeming” resolution to set those ceilings.
