A Bipartisan Failure in Congress on National Defense
Congress slinks out of town without spending more on the military.
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The Editorial Board
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Dec. 12, 2024 5:43 pm ET
Review and Outlook: Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is pushing much higher defense spending to meet the growing threats from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. (06/17/24) Image: Mc2 Evan Mueller/US Navy/Zuma Press
The 118th Congress is slinking to its unlamented end, but we shouldn’t let it pass without noting a missed opportunity on the National Defense Authorization Act. Congress is eager to pass more “emergency” spending, but it won’t do more to serve its main duty of providing for national defense in a dangerous world.
House and Senate conferees have agreed to $884 billion in fiscal 2025 defense spending, kneeling to the spending caps set in 2023’s debt-ceiling bill. The House passed the bill this week. This number rejects the additional $25 billion that Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker skillfully negotiated to include in the Senate version of the bill. This authorization is inadequate to current defense needs and does no favors to President-elect Donald Trump.
So-called House conservatives threatened to blow up Mike Johnson’s speakership if the final bill included the Senate number, despite their success in muscling through many of their own priorities in the NDAA. Only a few GOP dissenters could defeat Mr. Johnson in the looming Jan. 3 vote for the next Speaker. Mr. Trump chose to stay out of the debate.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/congress-national-defense-authorization-act-military-spending-roger-wicker-lindsey-graham-john-thune-f55c9af8?msockid=2c33cac1b8d667953d29df84b97c6630
