Today the House voted 370-58 to pass the revised fiscal 2016 defense authorization measure (S 1356) under suspension of the rules, an expedited process that requires a two-thirds majority for passage. A vote to override the president’s veto was slated for Thursday, but scrapped in favor of the new bill after House and Senate negotiators worked out a series of cuts to conform to a revised defense budget top line.
Obama vetoed the initial defense authorization bill (HR 1735), citing the inclusion of $38 billion in extra Overseas Contingency Operations funds to sidestep discretionary spending caps. A two-year budget agreement (HR 1314), signed by the president Monday, raised defense and non-defense spending caps by $25 billion each in fiscal 2016. The agreement also includes an extra $8 billion this year for defense spending through OCO.
The policy provisions of the new measure are unchanged but the bill reflects $5 billion in cuts to programs to conform to the two-year budget agreement, which came up short of the president’s request, and the original NDAA topline of $612 billion.