Fact Sheet: Selected Highlights of the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4909)
Abstract
Congressional action on the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has been fundamentally shaped by the legally binding caps on discretionary spending for defense programs and for non-defense programs, which were established by P.L. 114-74, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA). A central issue before Congress is the extent to which Congress and the President will approve Department of Defense (DOD) funding for FY2017 that (1) exceeds the relevant BBA cap; and (2) is exempt from that spending cap because it is classified as funding for so-called Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).The 2015 BBA increased binding caps on defense and non-defense discretionary appropriations for FY2016 and FY2017, which originally had been codified by the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 (P.L. 112-25). Those spending caps are enforced by a process of sequestration.1However, the BCA caps do not apply to appropriations designated both by Congress and by the President as funding either (1) for an emergency, or (2) for OCO purposes. The non-OCO share of the annual DOD budget is referred to as the base budget. The OCO categorywhich is not defined in lawwas adopted by the Obama Administration in 2009 to encompass funding associated with operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In subsequent budgets, the number of operations funded has increased and the scope of funding designated as OCO has expanded.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 12, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1013633
Entities
People
- Lynn M. Williams
- Pat Towell
Organizations
- Congressional Research Service