The vote for this year’s bill, which is nearly 3,100 pages long and authorizes a record $886 billion, up 3% from last year, meant that Congress has passed an NDAA for 63 straight years.
It is also closely watched by major defense companies, such as Lockheed Martin, RTX Corp and other firms that receive Department of Defense contracts. Separate from the appropriations bills that set government spending levels, the NDAA authorizes everything from pay raises for troops - this year’s will be 5.2% - to purchases of ships, ammunition and aircraft.īecause it is one of the few major pieces of legislation that becomes law every year, members of Congress use it as a vehicle for a wide range of initiatives.
