SASC Completes Markup of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025

Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced that the Committee voted 22-3 to advance the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025. The bill now heads to the Senate floor for consideration.

Senator Reed commented: “I am glad that this year’s NDAA makes important progress in a number of areas, including a well-deserved pay raise for military servicemembers, powerful new security initiatives in the Indo-Pacific, and significant support for technologies like counter-drone defenses and AI. However, I regret that I needed to vote against passage of this bill because it includes a funding increase that cannot be appropriated without breaking lawful spending caps and causing unintended harm to our military. I appreciate the need for greater defense spending to ensure our national security, but I cannot support this approach.

“Passing the NDAA takes bipartisanship – that means you don’t win everything – and I’m grateful that my colleagues share a common agreement that getting this bill to the Senate floor and ultimately the President’s desk is our paramount responsibility. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and House to find practical ways to strengthen this year’s defense bill.”

Senator Wicker also commented: “This bill shows there is bipartisan support for doing more to maintain deterrence and protect American interests. I am encouraged that many of my colleagues have joined me in the conversation about the need to invest more in our national defense. I look forward to discussing the peace through strength vision I have laid out in the months to come. This year’s NDAA results are a testament to the tradition of bipartisanship, vigorous debate, and good working order on which this committee prides itself.”

Committee approval is the first step in a months-long process to establish defense funding levels and set policies for the Defense Department and the Energy Department’s national security programs. The bill must now be debated and voted on by the full U.S. Senate. A separate measure will make its way through the U.S. House of Representatives. Once both the Senate and House pass their versions of the bill, they must then be reconciled in a bicameral conference committee, and then approved by each chamber before a final version may be sent to the President to be signed into law.

This marks the 64^th consecutive year that the Committee has advanced the defense policy bill.

Click here to read the FY25 NDAA Executive Summary.