Defense authorization and appropriations work collides on Wednesday

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Wednesday will be a pivotal day for the Pentagon’s fiscal 2023 budget, with a pair of key House committees drafting their spending plans for military operations next year.

The House Appropriations Committee will hold a mark up of its defense appropriations plan at the same time the House Armed Services Committee holds its negotiations on the annual defense authorization bill.

Top line spending is likely to be the most contentious issue at both events. Democratic leaders in the House have so far stuck with President Joe Biden’s plan for a 4% increase in defense spending next year, but a coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans have been arguing for increased spending to counter inflation costs.

The appropriations committee work is expected to take a few hours, but the armed services committee work will likely stretch into Thursday morning. In the last 10 years, work on crafting the authorization bill (which covers a host of policy and spending issues), has only finished before midnight twice, and not once before 11:40 p.m.

Wednesday, June 22

House Armed Services — 10 a.m. — 2118 Rayburn

Defense authorization bill

Committee members will mark up their draft of the annual defense authorization bill.

House Appropriations — 10 a.m. — 1100 Longworth

Defense appropriations

The full committee will mark up its draft of the fiscal 2023 defense appropriations bill.

House Veterans’ Affairs — 10 a.m. — Visitors Center H210

Pending legislation

The subcommittee on health will consider several pending bills.

House Foreign Affairs — 2 p.m. — 2172 Rayburn

Regional security cooperation

State Department officials will testify on U.S. objectives in the Middle East and North Africa.

Senate Foreign Relations — 2:45 p.m. — 419 Dirksen

NATO additions

State Department officials will discuss the proposed accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO.

House Appropriations — 5 p.m. — 2359 Rayburn

State Department appropriations

The subcommittee on foriegn operations will consider its draft of the State Department’s fiscal 2023 budget.

Thursday, June 23

Senate Foreign Relations — 9:30 a.m. — 419 Dirksen

Pending nominations

The committee will consider several pending nominations.

House Appropriations — 10 a.m. — 1100 Longworth

Veterans Affairs appropriations

The full committee will mark up its draft of the fiscal 2023 appropriations bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.

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