The U.S. House of Representatives passed the omnibus spending bill yesterday by a vote of 225-201 after the Senate passed it by a vote 68-29 on Dec. 22. President Joe Biden is expected to sign it. Biden did sign the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) yesterday. The omnibus bill totals $1.7 trillion including $817 billion for the Pentagon along with $27.9 billion for Ukraine, for a total of $845 billion (full amount authorized in NDAA). This marks a significant increase over the $773 billion in defense spending Biden asked for as part of his budget proposal earlier this year, reported Defense News. The bill brings the total amount of emergency cash Congress has given the Pentagon to help Ukraine to $61.4 billion since March.
The omnibus includes $9.3 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the Pentagon to contract for new weapons and equipment for Kiev. Another $11.9 billion in the Ukraine supplemental spending is allocated for the Defense Department to replenish weapons the U.S. has already sent to Kiev from its existing stockpiles under presidential drawdown authority. The bill also increases Biden’s drawdown authority for Ukraine to $14.5 billion for FY23, allowing him to continue transferring weapons from U.S. stocks.
