House and Senate lawmakers have reached a compromise on a bill that would allocate $619 billion in defense budget for fiscal year 2017, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. writes the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act is approximately $3.2 billion higher than President Barack Obama’s FY 2017 budget request and is scheduled to be put up for a vote in the House by Dec. 2 and the Senate by next week.
The bill would add 1,000 soldiers to the U.S. Army, 4,000 airmen to the U.S. Air Force and 3,000 service personnel to the U.S. Marine Corps, the report said.
The proposed NDAA would reduce the size of the National Security Council to 200 positions, impose a 2.1 percent raise in military pay and require a study on the selective service system, according to a report by Patricia Zengerle on Reuters.
The bill also includes restrictions on transfers related to the military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and would expand a visa program for Afghans who work for the U.S. military, Zengerle wrote.
Scott Maucione also reports for Federal News Radio that the proposed measure would remove and split the Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics role into two positions.
A senior armed services committee aide told reporters that DoD will have an undersecretary who will focus on acquisition and support and another one who will handle research and engineering functions, according to Maucione.
The bill would allocate $68 billion in funds for overseas contingency operations and designate the U.S. Cyber Command as a full combatant command, the report added.
