WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2023) US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that the US Congress must pass the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) before lawmakers' August recess, and later pass a separate Ukraine aid supplemental.
"We need to get the NDAA done. It needs to be open for amendments and we need to do it before the August recess," McConnell said during a press conference. "We will have the NDAA, which is not a spending bill, then we will have at some point a Ukraine supplemental."
The NDAA sets the agencies responsible for defense activities and their recommended funding levels, as well as policies related to how such funds can be spent. Congress later provides funds through appropriations bills.
The House and Senate versions of the FY24 NDAA both authorize approximately $886 billion in defense-related spending. However, lawmakers are currently considering hundreds of amendments to the bill, including to strip a $300 million extension of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
The Senate Armed Services Committee filed its initial version of the NDAA on Tuesday, while the House Rules Committee held a hearing on amendments to their own variant of the legislation. The two versions must be reconciled before finalization.
US President Joe Biden has said he supports the bill's passage by Congress, but urged lawmakers to reconsider some measures, including one to increase oversight of Ukraine aid and another to bolster the authority of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
