Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

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Department of Defense Appropriations Act,

2023: Overview and Selected Issues

January 8, 2024

Congressional Research Service

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R47896

SUMMARY

R47896

Department of Defense Appropriations Act,

2023: Overview and Selected Issues

January 8, 2024

Pat Towell

Specialist in U.S. Defense

Policy and Budget

The annual Department of Defense appropriations act provides discretionary funding for nearly

all military-related activities of the Department of Defense (DOD) except the construction of

facilities and the provision of family housing for authorized military personnel, which typically

are funded in separate appropriations legislation. The Department of Defense Appropriations Act,

2023, enacted as Division C of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328),

provides $788.5 billion in discretionary budget authority, which amounts to $36.0 billion (4.8%)

more than the Biden Administration’s $752.4 billion request for programs covered by the act.

Compared to the corresponding funding legislation for FY2022, the FY2023 bill provides an

increase of $68.9 billion (9.6%) for defense programs (see table below).

Cameron M. Keys

Analyst in Defense

Logistics and Resource

Management Policy

Neither the House nor the Senate passed a freestanding FY2023 defense appropriations bill. The

House Appropriations Committee (HAC), after 18 Subcommittee on Defense hearings from March to May 2022, voted 32-26

on June 22, 2022, to introduce such a bill (H.R. 8236) with an accompanying report (H.Rept. 117-388) comparing committee

funding decisions to DOD’s requested amounts. Upon introduction, the House took no further action on that bill. The Senate

Appropriations Committee (SAC) held eight Subcommittee on Defense (SAC-D) hearing sessions from March to June 2022.

Concurrent with publication of the SAC Chairman’s mark on the committee’s website, SAC-D Chairman Senator Jon Tester

introduced an FY2023 defense appropriations bill (S. 4663) on July 28, 2022, on which neither the full Appropriations

Committee nor the Senate took further action.

Bicameral, bipartisan negotiations produced a final version of the defense appropriations bill, which, along with the texts of

11 other appropriations bills, was substituted for the text of H.R. 2617 by process of amendment. The defense bill was

designated as Division C of the resulting Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which the Senate passed on December 22,

2022, by a vote of 68-29 (Record Vote Number: 421). The House passed the bill on December 23, 2022, by a vote of 225201-1 (Roll no. 549). On December 29, 2022, the President signed H.R. 2617, which was enrolled as P.L. 117-328.

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023

(discretionary budget authority in billions of current dollars)

Bill Title

FY2022

Enacted

HouseAppropriations

Committee

Reported bill

H.R. 8236

Senate Appropriations Defense

Subcommittee Chair Introduced bill

S. 4663

FY2023

Request

H.R.

8236

(March

2022)

(June

2022)

Amended FY2023

Request

(June 2022)

Committee

Chairman’s

Mark

Division C of

Consolidated

Appropriations Act,

2023

H.R. 2617

(December 2022)

(July 2022)

Military Personnel

157.5

164.1

163.3

164.1

163.0

Operation and

Maintenance

256.3

270.2

269.4

271.3

275.7

278.1

Procurement

144.9

143.9

145.0

156.7

162.2

Research & Development

119.2

130.1

131.7

129.9

134.6

139.8

Revolving and

Management Funds

2.0

1.3

1.6

1.4

1.7

Defense Health Program

and Other DOD

Programs

39.8

39.3

40.5

39.3

40.2

41.8

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

Bill Title

FY2022

Enacted

HouseAppropriations

Committee

Reported bill

H.R. 8236

Senate Appropriations Defense

Subcommittee Chair Introduced bill

S. 4663

FY2023

Request

H.R.

8236

(March

2022)

(June

2022)

Amended FY2023

Request

(June 2022)

Committee

Chairman’s

Mark

Division C of

Consolidated

Appropriations Act,

2023

H.R. 2617

(December 2022)

(July 2022)

Related Agencies

1.1

General Provisions

-1.3

1.3

1.2

0.0

10.0

0.9

719.6

752.4

782.8

788.5

Total

Sources: U.S. Congress, Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2022, report to accompany H.R. 2471, 117th Congress, 2nd sess.,

Joint Explanatory Statement – Division C, March 9, 2022; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Department of

Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023, report to accompany H.R. 8236, 117th Cong., 2nd sess., H.Rept. 117-388, June 24, 2022; U.S.

Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Explanatory Statement for the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023, July 28,

2022; Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), pp. S.8029-S.8285.

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding.

a. To facilitate direct comparison of the FY2022 act with the FY2023 act, FY2022 data exclude supplemental appropriations and

TRICARE for Life accrual payments, which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scores as discretionary spending but

originate in statutes other than the annual appropriations act.

b. Amounts designated “Related Agencies” go to the Central Intelligence Agency retirement and disability fund and to the

Intelligence Community Management Account.

c. Differences between “FY2023 Budget Request” columns in House and Senate documents reflect a revised budget request

submitted by the Biden Administration on June 7, 2022 and inter-cameral differences over which Title of the bill should fund

certain programs.

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

Contents

Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 1

Selected Upward Adjustments .................................................................................................. 3

Selected Downward Adjustments.............................................................................................. 5

Budgetary Context ........................................................................................................................... 7

Selected Military Personnel Issues .................................................................................................. 8

Military Pay Raise ..................................................................................................................... 9

Extremist Ideologies................................................................................................................ 10

Abortion Access ...................................................................................................................... 10

Sexual Assault, Prevention, and Response .............................................................................. 10

Defense Medical Facilities Reorganization .............................................................................. 11

Selected Operation and Maintenance Issues .................................................................................. 11

Minimum Wage for Contractor Employees ............................................................................. 11

Removal of Confederate Names .............................................................................................. 11

Selected Environmental Issues ...................................................................................................... 12

PFAS/PFOA Remediation ....................................................................................................... 12

Red Hill (Hawaii) Fuel Depot Cleanup ................................................................................... 12

Selected War on Terror Issues ....................................................................................................... 13

Selected Acquisition Issues ........................................................................................................... 13

Expedited Acquisition Process ................................................................................................ 13

Strategic Nuclear Forces ......................................................................................................... 14

Precision Strike Weapons ........................................................................................................ 15

Anti-Missile Defenses ............................................................................................................. 17

DOD Space Programs ............................................................................................................. 19

Ground Systems ...................................................................................................................... 21

Shipbuilding Programs ............................................................................................................ 23

Aircraft Programs .................................................................................................................... 25

Figures

Figure 1. DOD Outlays in Current and Constant Dollars: 1962-2023 (estimated) ......................... 7

Figure 2. Major Categories of Federal Outlays: 1983-2023 ............................................................ 8

Tables

Table 1. Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023............................................................. 1

Table 2. Legislative History of Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023 ........................ 2

Table 3. Inflation Adjustments, Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023 ........................ 4

Table 4. FY2022-23 Military Personnel End-strength .................................................................... 9

Table 5. Selected Strategic Nuclear Weapons Systems ................................................................. 15

Table 6. Selected Precision Strike Systems ................................................................................... 16

Table 7. Selected Missile Defense Systems................................................................................... 18

Table 8. Selected Defense Space Systems ..................................................................................... 20

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

Table 9. Selected Ground Combat Systems................................................................................... 21

Table 10. Selected Shipbuilding Programs .................................................................................... 23

Table 11. Selected Military Aviation Programs ............................................................................. 25

Appendixes

Appendix. ...................................................................................................................................... 28

Contacts

Author Information........................................................................................................................ 29

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

Overview

The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023, enacted as Division C of the Consolidated

Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328), provides $788.5 billion in discretionary budget

authority, which amounts to $36.0 billion (4.8%) more than the Biden Administration’s $752.4

billion request for programs covered by the act. Compared to the corresponding funding

legislation for FY2022, the FY2023 bill provides an increase of $68.9 billion (9.6%) for defense

programs (Table 1).1

Table 1. Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023

(discretionary budget authority in billions of current dollars)

Bill Title

FY2022

Enacted

HouseAppropriations

Committee

Reported bill

H.R. 8236

FY2023

Request

H.R.

8236

(March

2022)

(June

2022)

Senate Appropriations Defense

Subcommittee Chair

Introduced bill

S. 4663

Amended

FY2023 Request

(June 2022)

Committee

Chairman’s

Mark

Division C of

Consolidated

Appropriations

Act, 2023

H.R. 2617

(December 2022)

(July 2022)

Military Personnel

157.5

164.1

163.3

164.1

163.0

Operation and

Maintenance

256.3

270.2

269.4

271.3

275.7

278.1

Procurement

144.9

143.9

145.0

156.7

162.2

Research &

Development

119.2

130.1

131.7

129.9

134.6

139.8

Revolving and

Management Funds

2.0

1.3

1.6

1.4

1.7

Defense Health

Program and Other

DOD Programs

39.8

39.3

40.5

39.3

40.2

41.8

Related Agencies

1.1

General Provisions

-1.3

1.3

1.2

0.0

10.0

0.9

719.6

752.4

782.8

788.5

Total

Sources: U.S. Congress, Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2022, report to accompany H.R. 2471, 117th

Congress, 2nd sess., Joint Explanatory Statement – Division C, March 9, 2022; U.S. Congress, House Committee

on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023, report to accompany H.R. 8236, 117th Cong.,

2nd sess., H.Rept. 117-388, June 24, 2022; U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Explanatory

Statement for the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023, July 28, 2022; Senate debate, Congressional

Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), pp. S.8029-S.8285.

Notes: Totals may not sum due to rounding.

1 Discretionary spending derives its authority to expend funds from annual appropriation acts, while mandatory

spending derives its authority to expend funds from laws other than annual appropriation acts. For an overview of

mandatory spending trends, see CRS Report R44641, Trends in Mandatory Spending, by D. Andrew Austin.

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

To facilitate direct comparison of the FY2022 act with the FY2023 act, FY2022 data excludes supplemental

appropriations and TRICARE for Life accrual payments, which are scored by the Congressional Budget

Office (CBO) as discretionary spending but originate in statutes other than the annual appropriations act.

Amounts designated “Related Agencies” go to the Central Intelligence Agency retirement and disability fund

and to the Intelligence Community Management Account.

Differences between “FY2023 Budget Request” columns in House and Senate documents reflect a revised

budget request submitted by the Administration on June 7, 2022 and inter-cameral differences over which

Title of the bill should fund certain programs.

The annual Department of Defense appropriations act provides discretionary budget authority for

nearly all military-related activities of the Department of Defense (DOD) except the construction

of facilities and the provision of family housing for authorized military personnel, which typically

are funded in separate appropriations legislation.2

Neither the House nor the Senate passed a freestanding FY2023 defense appropriations bill. The

House Appropriations Committee, after 18 hearings by the Subcommittee on Defense during the

period of March to May 2022, voted 32-26 on June 22, 2022, to introduce such a bill (H.R. 8236)

with an accompanying report (H.Rept. 117-388). Upon introduction, the House took no further

action on that bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense (SAC-D)

held eight hearing sessions from March 29 to June 14, 2022. Concurrent with publication of the

Chairman’s mark on the committee’s website, SAC-D Chairman Senator Jon Tester introduced an

FY2023 defense appropriations bill (S. 4663) on July 28, 2022, on which neither the full

Appropriations Committee nor the Senate took further action.

Bicameral, bipartisan negotiations produced a final version of the defense appropriations bill,

which, along with the texts of 11 other appropriations bills, was substituted for the text of H.R.

2617 by process of amendment. The defense bill was designated as Division C of the resulting

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which the Senate passed on December 22, 2022, by a

vote of 68-29 (Record Vote Number: 421). The House passed the bill on December 23, 2022, by a

vote of 225-201-1 (Roll no. 549). On December 29, 2022, the President signed H.R. 2617,

enrolled as P.L. 117-328 (See Table 2).

Table 2. Legislative History of Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023

Appropriations

Defense

Subcommittee

Markup

House

H.R. 8236

voice vote

6/15/22

Sen.

House

Appropriations

Committee

Report

32-26

6/22/22

H.Rept. 117-388

Senate

Appropriations

Committee

Explanatory

Statement

S. 4663

introduced 7/28/22

Sen. Approps.

Committee press

release, 7/28/22

Consolidated

Appropriations

Act, 2023

Approval

Explanatory

Statementa

H.R. 2617

Cong. Rec.

12/20/22. pp. S

8029-S 8285

House

Senate

225-2011

12/23/22

68-29

12/22/22

Public

Law

P.L. 117328

12/29/22

Source: U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023,

report to accompany H.R. 8236, 117th Cong., 2nd sess., H.Rept. 117-388, June 24, 2022; U.S. Congress, Senate

Committee on Appropriations, Explanatory Statement for the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023, July

28, 2022; and Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), pp. S.8029-S.8285;

House of Representatives Roll Call vote number 549, Bill Number: H.R. 2617, 117th Cong., 2nd sess., December

23, 2022 at https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022549; Senate Roll Call vote number 421, Measure Number: H.R.

2 The FY2023 appropriations bill covering military construction and family housing as well as the Department of

Veterans Affairs was enacted as Division J of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (H.R. 2617).

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

2617, 117th Cong., 2nd sess., December 22, 2022 at

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00421.htm; P.L. 117-328.

a. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-73) utilized an “amendments-between-the-Houses”

process rather than a conference committee to resolve differences between bill versions. Therefore, the

“explanatory statement” referred to throughout this report is not a typical joint explanatory statement

generated by a conference committee. Rather, it refers to the explanatory statement accompanying the

enacted bill in the Congressional Record, which states that it “shall have the same effect with respect to the

allocation of funds…as if it were a joint explanatory statement of a committee of conference.” See Senate

debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), p. S7820.

There are hundreds of differences between the Biden Administration’s budget request and the

enacted bill over funding for particular DOD programs and activities. However, a relative handful

of broad issues account for much of the difference between the FY2023 budget request and the

budget authority appropriated in the enacted bill. These differences can be analyzed in terms of

upward or downward adjustments to the Administration’s base budget request.3

Selected Upward Adjustments

Inflation Adjustments

Because DOD develops each year’s budget request over a two-year year cycle within the

Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process, economic assumptions

driving DOD’s budget request just prior to budget submission (e.g., in late 2021 or early 2022)

may not match congressional expectations for future price inflation during legislative hearings,

floor consideration, or bicameral negotiations (e.g., from early 2022 through bill passage).4 The

enacted bill includes a total of $8.0 billion in new budget authority intended to cover projected

cost increases attributed to higher-than-anticipated inflation. These adjustments include personnel

($1.8 billion) and non-personnel ($6.2 billion) cost inflation (see Table 3).

Personnel-related inflation adjustments address cost growth affecting military personnel

allowances for subsistence, housing, dislocation, basic needs, and temporary lodging expenses.5

Inflation adjustments outside Military Personnel appropriations address cost growth for utilities

and daycare, military grocery stores (i.e., commissaries), military health care, fuel, and cost

growth common to acquisition programs.6

3 DOD’s Financial Management Regulation (FMR) refers to upward adjustments to individual programs as

“Congressional Adds.” See DOD, Financial Management Regulation, DOD 7000.14-R, Volume 2B Chapter 5, p. 5-16

at https://comptroller.defense.gov/fmr/. In practice, Congress may utilize dozens of unique phrases to designate upward

and downward adjustments to the presidential administration’s requests in funding tables accompanying an enacted

appropriations bill, such as “program increase.” Other terms have precise technical definitions, such as “Rescissions,”

whereby Congress takes away remaining obligation authority from prior year appropriations accounts that are both

unexpired and contain unobligated balances. The DOD FMR accounts for the totality of upward and downward

adjustments at the line-item level in the following categories: Congressional General Reductions; Congressional

Directed Reductions; Congressional Rescissions; Congressional Adds; Congressional Directed Transfers [between

appropriations accounts]; and Other Adjustments. See Ibid., p. 5-17.

4 For more information on PPBE, see CRS Report R47178, DOD Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution

(PPBE): Overview and Selected Issues for Congress, by Brendan W. McGarry.

5 For more information on military allowances, see CRS In Focus IF10532, Defense Primer: Regular Military

Compensation, by Lawrence Kapp and CRS Report R47728, Military Housing, by Andrew Tilghman.

6 For more information on these programs, see CRS In Focus IF11089, Defense Primer: Military Commissaries and

Exchanges, by Barbara Salazar Torreon and Kristy N. Kamarck and CRS In Focus IF10530, Defense Primer: Military

Health System, by Bryce H. P. Mendez.

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

Table 3. Inflation Adjustments, Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023

In thousands of current dollars ($K)

Military

Personnel

Inflation

Adjustments

Army

Subsistence

Allowance

Housing

Allowance

Dislocation

Allowance

Basic Needs

Allowance

Temporary

Lodging

Expense

Coverage

$101,900

$307,000

$8,000

$5,450

$76,700

Army Reserve

$7,900

$26,800

$800

$170

$3,600

Army National

Guard

$15,700

$48,600

$1,500

$340

$5,300

Navy

$68,200

$404,000

$4,300

$2,220

$19,800

Navy Reserve

$4,600

$15,500

$300

$170

$5,400

Marine Corps

$30,900

$115,600

$2,200

$1,020

$5,900

Marine Corps

Reserve

$2,700

$5,100

$100

$170

$1,400

Air Force

$76,700

$227,500

$5,000

$2,050

$38,400

Air Force

Reserve

$4,000

$14,800

$400

$170

$4,800

Air National

Guard

$7,700

$35,100

$700

$170

$2,100

Space Force

$7,500

$24,900

$200

$170

$675

Total, Military

Personnel

$327,800

$1,224,900

$23,500

$12,100

$164,075

Utilities and

Daycare

Commissaries

$841,892

$209,615

NonPersonnel

Inflation

Adjustments

Total, NonPersonnel

Defense

Health

Program

$400,000

Fuel Costs

$3,734,000

Grand Total,

Inflation

Adjustments

Revised

Acquisition

Costs

$1,052,501

$7,990,383

Source: CRS analysis of U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Consolidated Appropriations Act,

2023, committee print, 117th Cong., 2nd sess., H.Prt 50-347, Book 1; and Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol.

168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), pp. S.8029-S.8285.

Reserve and National Guard Equipment

To accelerate modernization of reserve and National Guard equipment, the enacted bill provides a

total of $3.5 billion above the Administration’s request. Nearly half that amount ($1.7 billion) is

to procure 16 C-130J cargo planes for the Air National Guard.7

Also specified within the total is $350.0 million for 12 MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), $273.0 million for 10 Blackhawk helicopters, $120.0 million

7 Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), p. S8150.

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

for Jeep-like HMMWVs (“Hum-vees”) for the Army National Guard, and $53 million for new

radars for Air National Guard F-16 fighter aircraft.8

Research and Development

The enacted defense appropriations bill provides hundreds of program increases for DOD-funded

science and technology (S&T) research projects. S&T research, much of it performed by

universities, focuses on basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development

that could be incorporated into the design of future military hardware, as opposed to research

associated with specific prototypes undergoing test and evaluation or equipment already in the

field or slated for procurement.9

The enacted bill provides a net total of $9.9 billion above the amount requested across the

research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) portfolio.10 Selected upward adjustments

include nearly 600 line-item program increases totaling $6.6 billion in DOD’s main RDT&E

accounts and 56 adds totaling $2.0 billion in the RDT&E portion of the Defense Health

Program.11

In order for DOD to meet congressional intent in spending these funds, the enacted bill states that

“funding increases shall be competitively awarded, or provided to programs that have received

competitive awards in the past.”12 The exception to this rule is Community Project Funding,

which Congress “earmarks” for non-competitive award to particular universities. The enacted bill

includes $54.2 million in DOD RDT&E Community Project Funding.13

Selected Downward Adjustments

The enacted bill partly offsets the net effect of these and other upward adjustments on total

discretionary defense budget authority with $12.8 billion worth of downward adjustments relative

to the Administration’s request. The explanatory statement accompanying the enacted bill

explains legislators’ decisions about hundreds of these adjustments in terms of specific

reservations about particular programs.14

Military Personnel

8 Ibid. pp. S8104, S8116, S8151.

9 For additional background, see CRS In Focus IF10553, Defense Primer: RDT&E, by John F. Sargent Jr.

10 Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), p. 8173.

11 CRS analysis of Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), pp. S8173-S8257.

Section 8144 of the enacted bill also requires the Secretary of Defense to allocate $400.0 million from the Creating

Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Defense Fund into defense-wide RDT&E

accounts for a Microelectronics Commons. See Ibid., p. S8263. See also, Congress.gov. "H.R.4346 - 117th Congress

(2021-2022): Chips and Science Act." August 9, 2022, Section 102(b) at https://www.congress.gov/bill/117thcongress/house-bill/4346.

12 Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), p. S8029.

13 Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), pp. S8264-S8265.

14 For more on joint explanatory statements, see CRS Report 98-382, Conference Reports and Joint Explanatory

Statements, by Christopher M. Davis. As noted above, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-73)

utilized an “amendments-between-the-Houses” processes rather than a conference committee to resolve differences

between bill versions. See Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), p. S7820.

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

The enacted bill cuts a total of $2.9 billion relative to the budget request for military personnel on

grounds that the armed forces would have fewer members in FY2023 than the request assumed.15

The explanatory statement ascribes these figures to “underexecution of strength.” While the

statement provides no further explanation, it has been widely reported that the Armed Forces –

particularly the Army – have been falling short of recruiting goals.16

Non-programmatic Line-Item Reductions

The enacted bill makes over 650 relatively small reductions to requested amounts in other

appropriations that add up to $9.9 billion.17 The explanatory statement accompanying the final

bill justifies each downward adjustment individually, often citing “unjustified growth” in the

Administration’s request for a given line item.18 Some of these “non-programmatic” reductions

are explained with reference to changes in a particular program’s anticipated performance

schedule.19 The enacted bill makes 44 reductions across 13 appropriation accounts on schedule

grounds (e.g., workload delays labeled “prior year carryover”) for a total of $857.6 million.20

Other enacted reductions are explained with brief labels such as “excess to need” or “historic

unobligated balances,” the latter phrase indicating that a particular program has exhibited a

consistent pattern over several years of reaching the end of its obligation authority with

significant unobligated balances.21

Rescissions and General Reductions

Apart from the downward adjustments already mentioned, the enacted bill also incorporates two

general reductions to budget authority in the overall appropriation:

•

Section 8047 rescinds $1.1 billion in unspent funds appropriated by Congress in

prior fiscal years but not yet expired, returning those fund balances to the

Treasury and thereby offsetting some of the upward adjustments in the act from

15 CRS analysis of Military Personnel accounts in Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December

20, 2022), pp. S8031-S8058. These budget cuts, allocated to the personnel budget account of each service component

(active and reserve), reflect an assumed total FY2023 end-strength of 2,087,344 which is 1.7% lower than the endstrength assumed in the budget request. See Table 4 below.

16 John M. Donnelly, “The Army tells House panel of enormous personnel shortfalls," Roll Call, July 22, 2022 at

https://rollcall.com/2022/07/19/army-tells-house-panel-of-enormous-personnel-shortfalls/.

17 CRS analysis of U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023,

committee print, 117th Cong., 2nd sess., Book 1; and Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198

(December 20, 2022), pp. S.8029-S.8285.

18 In general, “unjustified growth” indicates the appropriators’ judgment that a requested funding increase in the budget

year was not sufficiently justified in the Administration’s budget justification exhibits. Based on CRS analysis, over

200 downward adjustments totaling $3.9 billion cite “unjustified growth” or “excess growth” in the enacted bill.

19 Non-programmatic adjustments are distinguished from programmatic adjustments that are applied formulaically

across appropriations, such as those reflecting pay raises, revised economic assumptions, and inflation adjustments.

20 CRS analysis of Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), pp. S.8029-S.8285.

21 The DOD FMR defines unobligated balances as “the cumulative amount of budget authority in an unexpired account

that is not obligated and that remains available for obligation under law.” DOD, Financial Management Regulation,

DOD 7000.14-R, Glossary, p. G-36. Unobligated balances in expired accounts generally cannot be placed on new

contracts, representing a failure to expend taxpayer dollars for congressionally mandated purposes during a specified

period of availability. Congress may therefore use “historic unobligated balances” to refer to programs that consistently

do not meet targeted spending rates established by DOD policy, increasing the risk of unobligated balances in expired

and cancelled accounts. See Defense Acquisition University, “OUSDC Rule-of-Thumb Acquisition Obligation and

Expenditure Rates,” at https://www.dau.edu/tools/Lists/DAUTools/Attachments/292/OSD%20(C)%20Color%20Ruleof-Thumb%20Acq%20Obligation%20and%20Expenditure%20Rates.pdf. For more information on expired

appropriations, see CRS In Focus IF12329, Expiration and Cancellation of Unobligated Funds, by Taylor N. Riccard.

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•

the perspective of total budget authority in the national defense budget function

for FY2023.22

Section 8122 reduces the total appropriation by $956.4 million to account for

favorable exchange rates for U.S. dollars relative to foreign currencies.23

Budgetary Context

Based on the Administration’s FY2023 DOD budget request, defense outlays in FY2023 when

adjusted for inflation would exceed the department’s annual purchasing power during the Cold

War-era military buildup of the mid-1980s. However, the outlays would be lower than during the

peak years of post-9/11 military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. DOD Outlays in Current and Constant Dollars: 1962-2023 (estimated)

Source: CRS analysis of Office of Management and Budget, President’s Budget for FY2023: Historical Tables, Table

8.7 “Outlays for Discretionary Programs: 1962-2027” and Table 8.8 “Outlays for Discretionary Programs in

Constant (FY2012) Dollars: 1962-2027.”

Notes: Total DOD outlays include the relatively small proportion for military construction, which is funded in a

separate appropriations bill.

In general, the levels of discretionary outlays for defense and nondefense federal programs have

not been far apart since the aftermath of the 1991 war with Iraq. Defense spending ran slightly

22 Office of Management and Budget, OMB Circular No. A-11, 2023, Appendix A, p. 2 at

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/a11.pdf#page=824: “Rescissions of unobligated balances

will be scored as reductions in current budget authority and outlays in the year the money is rescinded.” For more

information on how rescissions work, see Congressional Budget Office, “CBO explains how it estimates savings from

rescissions,” May 2023 at https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59209.

23 Congress authorizes DOD to maintain “foreign currency fluctuation” accounts to handle the effects of discrepancies

between expected costs and actual costs for transactions involving foreign currencies. These accounts accumulate

account balances (or “realized variance”) when exchange rates at the time of disbursement are more favorable to the

U.S. dollar than expected. See 10 U.S.C. §2779 and DOD, Financial Management Regulation, DOD 7000.14-R,

Glossary, pp. G-20, G-29. DOD submits to Congress a budget exhibit each year (Exhibit PB-18, “Foreign Currency

Exchange Data”) containing expectations for foreign currency exchange rates affecting certain budgeted line items. See

DOD, Financial Management Regulation, DOD 7000.14-R. Volume 2B, Ch. 19, p. 19-72.

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higher during the peak of the Persian Gulf War while nondefense spending surged after 2019 in

response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Combined discretionary defense and nondefense spending has been outstripped by mandatory

spending since the early 1990s. For FY2023, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

projected mandatory outlays will total $3.7 trillion (of which Social Security, Medicare, and

Medicaid payments account for 75%), which would be more than double the discretionary outlays

total and nearly 4.7 times the discretionary defense amount (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Major Categories of Federal Outlays: 1983-2023

Source: Office of Management and Budget, President’s Budget for FY2023: Historical Tables, Table 8.1 “Outlays by

Budget Enforcement Act Category: 1962-2023”. Chart created by CRS.

Notes: Data for “National Defense” is for Budget Function 050, which includes a relatively small percentage of

spending that falls outside the scope of the annual defense appropriations bill, including funding for DOD military

construction and for defense-related spending by the Department of Energy and other agencies.

Selected Military Personnel Issues

The enacted bill provides $163.0 billion for Military Personnel (MILPERS) appropriations, which

is $1.2 billion (0.7%) less than the budget request. The enacted bill funds a total force, active and

reserve, numbering 2,087,344 uniformed personnel, which is 35,556 (1.7%) lower than the

FY2023 military end-strength in the budget request and 60,196 (2.8%) lower than the actual

FY2022 end-strength (see Table 4).

Unlike the end-strength totals in the enacted bill, neither H.R. 8236 nor S. 4663 assumed any

reduction in end-strength below the level assumed in the FY2023 budget request.24

24 Failure to meet end-strength goals during the fiscal year typically entails maintaining unobligated balances in one or

more MILPERS appropriations accounts. Since MILPERS funds have a one-year period of availability, these

unobligated balances tend to become candidates for transfer to other appropriations accounts through mid-year

reprogramming requests. These reprogramming requests require congressional notification and in practice can take

months to complete, increasing the risk that unused MILPERS funds may expire without being obligated. For more

information on transfer authority and reprogramming authority, see CRS In Focus IF11243, Defense Primer: DOD

Transfer and Reprogramming Authorities, by Brendan W. McGarry and CRS Report R46421, DOD Transfer and

Reprogramming Authorities: Background, Status, and Issues for Congress, by Brendan W. McGarry.

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Table 4. FY2022-23 Military Personnel End-strength

FY2022

actual

FY2023

budget

request

House

Committee

-reported

H.R. 8236

Senate

CommitteeExplanatory

Statement

Enacted

Bill

Division C

Active-Duty Forces

Army

485,000

473,000

452,000

Navy

346,920

346,300

354,000

Marine Corps

178,500

177,000

Air Force

329,220

323,400

325,344

Space Force

8,400

8,600

1,348,040

1,328,300

1,316,944

Total, Active-Duty

Forces

National Guard and

Reserve Forces (Selected Reserve)

Army Reserve

189,500

177,000

Navy Reserve

58,600

57,700

Marine Corps Reserve

36,800

33,000

Air Force Reserve

70,300

70,000

Army National Guard

336,000

325,344

Air National Guard

108,300

108,400

Total, Selected

Reserve

799,500

794,600

770,400

2,147,540

2,122,900

2,087,344

Grand Total,

Military Personnel

Source: U.S. Congress, Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2022, report to accompany H.R. 2471, 117th

Congress, 2nd sess., Joint Explanatory Statement – Division C, March 9, 2022, p. 22; DOD, Office of the Under

Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Defense Budget Overview: United States Department of

Defense: Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request, April 2022, pp. A-4, A-5; H.Rept. 117-388, House Appropriations

Committee, Report of the Committee on Appropriations together with Minority Views [to accompany H.R. 8236], June

24, 2022, pp. 13-14; U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Explanatory Statement for the

Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023, July 28, 2022, p. 19; Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168,

No. 198 (December 20, 2022), p. S8032.

Note: The Selected Reserve are, in general, those units and individuals who train for at least one weekend per

month in addition to on two-week period per year. See CRS In Focus IF10540, Defense Primer: Reserve Forces, by

Lawrence Kapp.

Military Pay Raise

As requested, the enacted bill includes upwards of $3.0 billion to cover the cost of a 4.6%

increase in military basic pay which the Administration proposed to take effect on January 1,

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Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

2023.25 This adjustment matches the annual increase in the Employment Cost Index (ECI), a

Labor Department survey of wages and salaries in private industry.26

As noted above, in addition to the basic pay raise the enacted bill includes a total of $1.8 billion

for various allowances (food, housing, certain moving expenses, and basic needs of

servicemembers living below certain gross household income thresholds) to offset rising costs

due to inflation.

Extremist Ideologies

The explanatory statement associated with the enacted bill directs senior DOD officials to update

an earlier report to Congress on policies and actions taken to address the involvement of military

personnel with extremist or criminal groups.27

This language was adopted in lieu of language in the House committee report that would have

required DOD specifically to report on changes in security clearance policies, associated

procedures, and training to ensure that individuals who adhere to extremist ideologies are not

granted security clearances.28

Abortion Access

The enacted bill does not include a provision contained in the House-introduced bill (Section

8145) that would prohibit the denial of a request by any member of the armed forces or any DOD

civilian employee for leave for the purpose of obtaining an abortion or assisting a spouse, partner,

or significant other in obtaining an abortion.29

Sexual Assault, Prevention, and Response

The enacted bill fully funds DOD’s request for $479.0 million to implement the recommendations

of an Independent Review Commission (IRC) created in 2021 to provide an assessment of sexual

assault in the armed forces.30 These recommendations include creating a full-time sexual assault

prevention workforce, giving responders expanded support for dealing with caseloads, and

creating a dedicated research center.31

In addition, Section 8044 of the bill adds to the budget $47.0 million for the Sexual Assault

Special Victims’ Counsel Program.32

25 The direct cost of the proposed 4.6% increase in basic pay is $2.88 billion. It may generate additional increases

totaling several hundred million dollars in various fringe benefits that are linked by law to the basic pay rate.

26 For background, see CRS In Focus IF10260, Defense Primer: Military Pay Raise, by Lawrence Kapp.

27 For background, see CRS Insight IN11779, FY2022 NDAA: Extremism in the Military, by Kristy N. Kamarck.

28 For the House report language, see H.Rept. 117-388, pp. 15-16.

29 For background and additional information, see CRS Insight IN11960, FY2023 NDAA: Military Abortion Policies,

by Kristy N. Kamarck and Bryce H. P. Mendez.

30 See DOD, “The Department of Defense releases the President’s fiscal year 2023 defense budget,” press release,

March 28, 2022.

31 Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, Hard Truths and the Duty to Change:

Recommendations from the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, July 2, 2021, at

https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2681145/independent-review-commissionrecommendations-on-countering-sexual-assault-in-t/.

32 For additional background, see CRS Report R44944, Military Sexual Assault: A Framework for Congressional

Oversight, by Kristy N. Kamarck and Barbara Salazar Torreon.

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Defense Medical Facilities Reorganization

The enacted bill’s explanatory statement directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to

report on the status of the reorganization of DOD health care initiated by the FY2017 National

Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 114-328) and codified in Title 10, U.S. Code Sections 1073c and

1073d.33 DOD proposes to shift uniformed military medical personnel from certain medical

clinics and hospitals to major medical centers and combat-support units. Civilian medical

personnel are to fill some of the resulting vacancies while others go unfilled. Some military

dependents and retirees would be required to seek medical care from non-DOD facilities with

costs covered by DOD’s TRICARE program.

Selected Operation and Maintenance Issues

The enacted bill provides $278.1 billion in discretionary budget authority to Operation and

Maintenance appropriations, which is $6.8 billion (2.5%) more than the requested amount and

$21.8 billion (8.5%) more than the FY2022 enacted amount (in current dollars). The enacted bill

upwardly adjusts DOD’s FY2023 O&M budget request by billions of dollars in an effort to

improve the combat readiness of U.S. forces. These adjustments include:

•

$1.5 billion for maintenance and repair of facilities;

$485.0 million for equipment overhauls at specialized maintenance depots; and

$427.0 million for recruiting and advertising costs.

The enacted bill also adds to the Navy’s budget request $322.0 million to pay for the continued

operation of several ships the Navy had planned to decommission. Section 8079 of the act

prohibits the Navy from decommissioning five Littoral Combat Ships included in this group.

Minimum Wage for Contractor Employees

The enacted bill does not include a provision from the House-introduced bill (Section 8024) that

would have required any for-profit contractor receiving funds appropriated by the act to pay any

employee at the rate of at least $15 per hour.

Removal of Confederate Names

The enacted bill adds to the request $1.0 million to continue the process of renaming DOD

installations and facilities currently named to commemorate the Confederate States of America or

any of its officials. A commission created to plan the renaming, mandated by Section 370 of the

William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2021 (P.L. 116-283),

completed its mission in October 2022 with DOD implementation to follow not later than January

1, 2024.34

33 For additional background, see CRS In Focus IF11273, Military Health System Reform, by Bryce H. P. Mendez;

CRS In Focus IF11458, Military Health System Reform: Military Treatment Facilities, by Bryce H. P. Mendez; CRS

Insight IN11115, DOD’s Proposal to Reduce Military Medical End Strength, by Bryce H. P. Mendez; and pp. 41-45 of

CRS Report R46810, FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Personnel and Health Care Issues, by

Kristy Kamarck, et. al.

34 For more on the commission, see CRS Insight IN10756, Confederate Names and Military Installations, by Barbara

Salazar Torreon. See also Alex Horton, "Panel: Erasing Confederate symbols from U.S. military to cost $62 million,"

Washington Post, September 13, 2022, p. A5.

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Selected Environmental Issues

The enacted bill adds $520.7 million to the $1.1 billion requested for DOD’s Environmental

Restoration accounts, which fund the cleanup of hazardous waste and pollutants at military

installations and formerly used defense sites.

PFAS/PFOA Remediation

More than one-third of the added environmental restoration funds ($224.9 million) will expedite

cleanup efforts aimed at groundwater contamination by certain highly toxic chemicals that were

widely used as fire-fighting agents, particularly at aviation facilities.35 These chemicals, used in

products such as “aqueous film-forming foam,” are referred to as PFAS/PFOA. As of September

2022, DOD has identified 700 locations where it “is conducting or has completed an assessment

of PFAS use or potential release.”36

The House Appropriations Committee, in its report on H.R. 8236, acknowledges that no

commercially available PFAS replacement meets DOD safety standards.37 However, citing

“significant and salient public health risks” associated with PFAS/PFOA, the committee directs

DOD to comply with a provision of the FY2020 NDAA requiring that their use be phased out by

the start of FY2025 (P.L. 116-92, Section 322).38

Red Hill (Hawaii) Fuel Depot Cleanup

Section 8119 of the enacted bill provides $1.0 billion, as requested, to deal with the

contamination of a portion of Honolulu’s water supply by a fuel leak from the Navy’s Red Hill

bulk fuel depot by removing all fuel from the facility and closing it.39 The facility, opened in

1943, includes 20 large tanks – with a total capacity of 250 million gallons of ship and aircraft

fuel – buried in a hillside overlooking Pearl Harbor and above a major aquifer.40

In 2014, a leak of 27,000 gallons of jet fuel highlighted the risk of water contamination from the

facility. Subsequent inadvertent fuel release and ensuing legal efforts culminated in DOD’s

decision early in 2022 to close the facility and move elsewhere the fuel it still contained.41

35 House Committee on Appropriations, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, committee print, 117th Cong., 2nd

sess., H.Prt 50-347, Book 1, p. 533.

36 Department of Defense, Report on Department of Defense’s Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Task Force

Activities, September 2022, p. A-1, A-2.

37 H.Rept. 117-388, p. 56.

38 In January 2023, DOD published revised standards for fire-fighting foam to facilitate the development, testing, and

procurement of commercial PFAS replacements. For additional background, see CRS Report R45986, Federal Role in

Responding to Potential Risks of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), coordinated by David M. Bearden.

39 Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Defense Operation & Maintenance

Overview Book, Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request, May 2022, p. 272; DOD, “Statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd

J. Austin III on the closure of the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility,” press release, March 7, 2022 at

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2957825/statement-by-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-onthe-closure-of-the-red/; DOD, “About Red Hill,” web resource at https://cnrh.cnic.navy.mil/Operations-andManagement/Red-Hill/About-Red-Hill/.

40 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “What is the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility?,” web resource at

https://www.epa.gov/red-hill/what-red-hill-bulk-fuel-storage-facility; DOD, “About Red Hill,” web resource at

https://cnrh.cnic.navy.mil/Operations-and-Management/Red-Hill/About-Red-Hill/.

41 DOD, “Statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on the closure of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage

(continued...)

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Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

Selected War on Terror Issues

Section 8142 of the enacted bill prohibits the use of appropriated funds to close the detention

facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Section 8139 of H.R. 8236 included a provision that would

have mandated closure of the facility.

The enacted bill also includes provisions barring the use of funds to transfer certain detainees

from Guantanamo Bay to U.S. territory (Section 8139); to transfer any Guantanamo Bay detainee

to any foreign country (Section 8140); or to construct any facilities in the United States to house

any Guantanamo Bay detainees (Section 8141).

Use of Force Authorizations

The enacted bill does not include any provision affecting legislation adopted in 2001 and 2002

authorizing U.S. military operations in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the

United States. H.R. 8236 would have repealed both of those measures:

•

Section 8148 would have repealed P.L. 107-40, the joint resolution adopted in

2001 to authorize the use of military force against perpetrators of the September

11, 2001 attacks; and

Section 8149 would have repealed P.L. 107-243, the joint resolution adopted in

2002 to authorize the use of military force against Iraq

Selected Acquisition Issues

The enacted bill provides $162.2 billion in new discretionary budget authority for DOD

Procurement programs, $17.2 billion (11.9%) above the requested level and $17.3 billion (11.9%)

above the FY2022 enacted level (in current dollars).

For DOD Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) programs, the enacted bill

provides $139.8 billion in new discretionary budget authority, $9.9 billion (7.6%) above the

requested level and $20.5 billion (17.2%) above the FY2022 enacted level (in current dollars).

Expedited Acquisition Process

In the explanatory statement accompanying the act, House and Senate negotiators assert that

DOD has hampered congressional oversight of certain weapons acquisition programs by

excessive use of streamlined procedures intended to speed up the fielding of new technologies,

bypassing some reporting requirements and other checks built into the routine procurement

process.42

At issue is a so-called “middle-tier of acquisition” created by a provision of the FY2016 NDAA

(P.L. 114-92, Section 804). Some acquisition reform proponents had contended that the

development and deployment of weapons based on promising new technologies was being unduly

delayed by the detailed advance planning and testing required by DOD’s standard procedures. In

Facility,” March 7, 2022; DOD, “About Red Hill,” web resource at https://cnrh.cnic.navy.mil/Operations-andManagement/Red-Hill/About-Red-Hill/; Patricia Kime, “Legal claims over Red Hill water contamination balloon to

4,600 as November filing deadline looms,” Military News, September 18, 2023 at https://www.military.com/dailynews/2023/09/18/legal-claims-over-red-hill-water-contamination-balloon-4600-november-filing-deadline-looms.html.

42 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, committee print, 117th

Cong., 2nd sess., H.Prt 50-347, Book 1, p. 656.

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response, the so-called “Section 804” criteria allowed DOD to bypass some of those procedures

in two types of cases:

•

Rapid Prototyping, in which innovative technologies would be used to field

prototypes of operational equipment within 5 years; and

Rapid Fielding, in which proven technology would be used to begin production

of new equipment within 6 months and to field a full production run in 5 years.

The explanatory statement objects that congressional oversight of rapid prototyping and fielding

programs since passage of P.L. 114-92 has been hampered by the lack of some of the

documentation dispensed with in the name of streamlining, such as independent cost estimates,

technology assessments, and test plans. The statement also expresses concern that the armed

services are equipping forces with items justified in budget documentation as RDT&E programs,

thus obscuring the total cost of certain programs and prematurely eliminating possible

alternatives.43

Section 8059 of the act generally prohibits the use of RDT&E funds to buy equipment for

operational use and requires DOD to submit with the FY2024 budget request a detailed report on

the planned use of RDT&E funds for testing purposes.44

Strategic Nuclear Forces

With relatively few changes, the act funds the Administration’s program for across-the-board

modernization of the U.S. “triad” of long-range nuclear weapons systems. The act funds to

continue developing the B-21 Raider bomber; a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

designated the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent or Sentinel; the Columbia-class ballistic missile

submarine; and production funds for the bomber and submarine. The act also provides, as

requested, the first year of procurement funding for the Long-Range Stand-Off (LRSO) missile,

intended to replace the 1970s-vintage air-launched cruise missile carried by U.S. bombers (see

Table 5).

The total of $5.9 billion the act provides, as requested, for Columbia-class missile submarine

procurement includes a $3.1 billion share of the projected $15.2 billion cost of the first of the

planned class of 12 submarines.45 The remaining $2.8 billion is to buy components or pay for

other work in preparation for construction of the other 11 planned subs.

Sea-Launched Cruise Missile

The act adds to the DOD budget request $45.0 million to continue development of a nucleararmed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N). The FY2022 budget included $15.2 million to

develop the weapon, but it was not included in the FY2023 budget by the Biden Administration.46

43 Ibid.

44 The section permits the Secretary of Defense to waive this restriction on a case-by-case basis by providing certain

written justification to the congressional appropriations committees. See Ibid., p. 471, clause (c).

45 The $15.18 billion total includes $6.56 billion for complete planning and detailed design of ships of the projected

class. The Navy typically includes such costs in its budget for the first ship of a new class. The projected total cost of

building the first Columbia-class ship is $8.62 billion. For additional background, see CRS Report R41129, Navy

Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald

O'Rourke.

46 For background and additional information, see CRS In Focus IF12084, Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise

Missile (SLCM-N), by Paul K. Kerr and Mary Beth D. Nikitin.

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Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

Strategic Nuclear Forces

For background and additional analysis, see CRS In Focus IF10519, Defense Primer: Strategic Nuclear Forces, by Paul

K. Kerr; and CRS In Focus IF12266, 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, by Paul K. Kerr.

Table 5. Selected Strategic Nuclear Weapons Systems

(in millions of dollars)

Senate

CommitteeExplanatory

Statement

Approp.

Type

B-21 Bomber

(R44463, IF12357)

Proc.

1,786.6

1,776.6

1,586.6

1,656.8

R&D

3,253.6

3,143.6

Proc.

314.9

234.1

246.4

276.3

R&D

895.4

866.8

859.0

844.9

Proc.

5,871.8

5,857.8

5,871.8

R&D

392.7

402.7

392.7

401.7

Proc.

1,398.3

1,106.4

1,125.2

1,404.6

R&D

284.5

294.5

302.5

312.5

R&D

3,614.3

3,527.8

3,614.3

Proc.

51.9

31.5

51.9

R&D

928.9

848.9

928.9

Legacy Bomber Upgrades

Columbia-class ballistic

missile submarine

(R41129)

Trident II (D-5) missile

mods (IF10519)

Sentinel Ground-based

Strategic Deterrent (new

ICBM) (IF11681)

Long-range Standoff

Weapon (IF10519,

IF12357)

FY2023

Request

House

Committee

-reported

H.R. 8236

Program

(relevant CRS report)

Enacted Bill

Division C

Source: DOD, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Program

Acquisition Cost by Weapon System: United States Department of Defense, Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request, April

2022; CRS analysis of Department of Defense Budget Justification Books, FY2023 (see Appendix); H.Rept. 117388, House Appropriations Committee, Report of the Committee on Appropriations together with Minority Views [to

accompany H.R. 8236], June 24, 2022; U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Explanatory

Statement for the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2023, July 28, 2022; Senate debate, Congressional

Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20, 2022), pp. S.8029-S.8285; and DOD, Office of the Under Secretary of

Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Program Acquisition Cost by Weapon System: United States

Department of Defense, Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request, March 2023.

Note: “FY2023 Requested” and “Enacted Bill Division C” amounts reference, where possible, DOD’s Program

Acquisition Cost by Weapon System (PACWS) reports for FY2023 and FY2024. These reports aggregate budget

requests and prior year enacted amounts across all RDT&E and Procurement Program Elements, Projects, and

sub-Project efforts. Amounts for House and Senate columns reference reports that are limited to line item level

detail. As a result, in some cases amounts in the House and Senate columns may not capture certain sub-Project

efforts present in PACWS tables but located in line items predominantly associated with a different weapon

system or activity. For weapon systems not individually listed in PACWS, “Enacted Division C” amounts reflect

CRS analysis of the explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023.

Precision Strike Weapons

The act generally supports the requests by the Army, Navy, and Air Force for funds to develop

and begin fielding various non-nuclear armed, precision-strike missiles. These include ballistic

missiles that travel on a parabolic trajectory, cruise missiles that can maneuver during flight, and

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Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

hypersonic weapons which – like many ballistic missiles – travel at speeds of at least five times

the speed of sound (Mach 5 or more than 3,800 mph) but additionally are capable of maneuvering

throughout their course of flight.47

Hypersonic weapons include both rocket-launched glide vehicles and cruise missiles powered by

air-breathing jets (see Table 6).

Long-range Precision Strike Weapons

For background and additional information, see CRS Report R45811, Hypersonic Weapons: Background and Issues

for Congress, by Kelley M. Sayler, CRS In Focus IF11991, The U.S. Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), by

Andrew Feickert, and CRS Report R45996, Precision-Guided Munitions: Background and Issues for Congress, by John R.

Hoehn.

Table 6. Selected Precision Strike Systems

(in millions of dollars)

Program

(relevant CRS report)

Approp.

Type

FY2023

Request

House

Committeereported H.R.

8236

Senate

Committee

Explanatory

Statement

Enacted Bill

Division C

Ballistic Missiles

Proc.

213.2

162.9

R&D

259.5

R&D

404.3

R&D

1,205.0

1,230.0

1,205.0

1,230.0

Long-Range Hypersonic

Weapon

[Army] (IF11991)

Proc.

249.3

R&D

806.7

849.9

811.7

861.7

Air-Launched Rapid Response

Weapon (ARRW) [Air Force]

(IF11623)

Proc.

46.6

0.0

R&D

115.0

25.0

115.0

R&D

461.8

483.8

423.8

Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff

Missile (IF11353)

Proc.

843.5

1,107.4

1,129.0

785.0

R&D

117.2

78.2

71.9

117.2

Tomahawk [Navy, Marine

Corps] (IF11353)

R&D

132.7

99.6

122.7

Proc.

734.4

777.0

759.8

781.8

Naval Strike Missile (IF11353)

Proc.

233.4

140.9

233.4

Precision Strike Missile

(PrSM) [Army] (IF11353)

Mobile Medium-Range Missile

[Army] (IF12135)

Hypersonic Weapons

Conventional Prompt Strike

[Navy] (R41464)

Hypersonic Attack Cruise

Missile [Air Force] (IF11623)

Subsonic Cruise Missiles

47 For more on the history of hypersonics, see T.A. Heppenheimer, Facing the Heat Barrier: A History of Hypersonics,

The NASA History Series, September 2007 at https://history.nasa.gov/sp4232.pdf. The term “hypersonic” was coined

in 1946 and these weapons have been of considerable interest to military engineers since before that time.

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023: Overview and Selected Issues

Source: DOD, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, Program

Acquisition Cost by Weapon System: United States Department of Defense, Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request, April

accompany H.R. 8236], June 24, 2022; Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 168, No. 198 (December 20,

2022), pp. S.8029-S.8285; and DOD, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial

Officer, Program Acquisition Cost by Weapon System: United States Department of Defense, Fiscal Year 2024 Budget

Request, March 2023.