WASHINGTON—The Senate has passed a defense policy bill that, like the House version of the bill, doesn't include a request by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to begin a new round of base closings in 2021.
Mattis has argued that closing excess installations would save $10 billion over five years, NAFCU noted.
Base closing always have significant effects for credit unions that serve those facilities, and for the surrounding communities.
The bill does deliver $700 billion to the Pentagon's budget for core functions and overseas missions. Additionally, it provides $8.5 billion — $630 million more than the Trump Administration requested — to strengthen the U.S.'s missile and defense systems in response to recent activities by North Korea, NAFCU reported.
The Senate passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 89-8. Both chambers of Congress must now vote on the final version of the bill.
In total, the NDAA contains more military spending than at any point during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, though Congress would have to repeal the 2011 budget caps before that money is distributed, NAFCU noted.
While the legislation exceeds President Trump's requested budget, it lacks several proposals made by the White House. The president has not indicated he will veto the bill, NAFCU said.