Background
On October 20, 2023, the Biden Administration submitted to Congress a request for FY2024 emergency supplemental appropriations to address "key national security priorities." President Biden characterized the request as a response to Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and asked for approximately $58.6 billion in budget authority for the Department of Defense (DOD), as well as funds for other executive departments and agencies (e.g., the Departments of State and Homeland Security).
On February 13, 2024, the Senate passed the National Security Act, 2024 (H.R. 815), which would have, among other things, provided approximately $67.3 billion in budget authority to DOD for purposes relating to Ukraine, Israel, and the submarine industrial base. The House did not take up this bill, as passed by the Senate.
On April 20, 2024, the House passed a series of bills—including the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 8034), the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 8035), and the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 8036)—that included approximately $67.3 billion in DOD budget authority for purposes relating to Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific. On April 23, 2024, the Senate approved these measures as a consolidated bill (H.R. 815), and on April 24, 2024, President Biden signed this bill into law as P.L. 118-50.
The enacted appropriations included funding for military personnel (MILPERS); operation and maintenance (O&M); research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E); procurement; and military construction (MILCON) accounts, as well as for Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) purchases. P.L. 118-50 also made appropriations for non-defense accounts, and included policy provisions—such as the increase of Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA; 22 U.S.C. §2318) from $100 million to $7.8 billion for FY2024—relevant to defense issues.
Table 1 provides information on requested, proposed, and enacted supplemental FY2024 DOD appropriations.
Table 1. FY2024 Supplemental Funding,
Department of Defense—Military Programs
(In millions of dollars of budget authority)
|
Appropriation Title |
Admin. Requested Amount |
Initial Senate-passed Amount (H.R. 815) |
Enacted Amount |
Stated Purposesa |
|
|
Israel |
|||||
|
O&M |
$4,400.0 |
$4,400.0 |
$4,400.0 |
$4,400.0 |
Replacing defense articles provided to Israel or other foreign countries; reimbursement for services provided to Israel; and expanding ammunition plant capacity and production. |
|
Procurement |
$4,801.4 |
$6,001.4 |
$6,001.4 |
$6,001.4 |
Transfer to the government of Israel for procurement of the Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Iron Beam defense systems; and expanding U.S. ammunition plant capacity |
|
RDT&E |
$1,200.0b |
- |
- |
- |
|
|
DPA Purchases |
$198.6 |
$331.2 |
$198.6 |
$198.6 |
Accelerating production of defense equipment. |
|
Not Specifiedd |
$2,440.0 |
$2,440.0 |
$2,440.0 |
U.S. Central Command operations, force protection, deterrence, and replacement of combat expenditures. |
|
|
Subtotal, Israel |
$10,600.0 |
$13,172.6 |
$13,040.0 |
$13,040.0 |
|
|
Ukraine |
|||||
|
MILPERS |
$211.6 |
$238.2 |
$238.2 |
$238.2 |
Support for personnel deploying to the European theater of operations. |
|
O&M |
$37,303.0 |
$33,975.2 |
$34,243.7 |
$34,243.7 |
Personnel support, operational |
|
Procurement |
$6,370.5 |
$12,831.5 |
$13,306.9 |
$13,306.9 |
Increasing production of missile systems; expanding facilities and production capacity for critical munitions; providing ship depot maintenance for surge ship support; cybersecurity; and classified programs. |
|
RDT&E |
$562.7 |
$633.4 |
$633.4 |
Cybersecurity; classified programs; and other support. |
|
|
Other |
- |
$10.0 |
$10.0 |
$10.0 |
Intelligence Community Management Account ($2.0M); DOD Office of the Inspector General ($8.0M) |
|
Subtotal, Ukraine |
$44,447.8 |
$47,688.3 |
$48,432.2 |
$48,432.2 |
|
|
Indo-Pacific/Submarine Industrial Base (SIB)d |
|||||
|
O&M |
$557.8 |
$557.8 |
$557.8 |
$557.8 |
Improvements at the Navy's four public shipyards. |
|
Procurement |
$2,448.6 |
$2,448.6 |
$2,448.6 |
$2,448.6 |
Advance procurement of submarines and support for the submarine industrial base, including initiatives in supplier development, shipbuilder and supplier infrastructure, workforce development, technology advancements, and strategic sourcing. |
|
RDT&E |
$7.0 |
$7.0 |
$7.0 |
$7.0 |
Support for the submarine industrial base |
|
MILCON |
$281.9 |
$281.9 |
$281.9 |
$281.9 |
Infrastructure improvements at the Navy's four public shipyards. |
|
Not specified |
- |
$542.4 |
$542.4 |
$542.4 |
Budget authority and transfer authority for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command unfunded priorities. |
|
O&M |
- |
$1,900.0 |
$1,900.0 |
$1,900.0 |
Replacing equipment and reimbursing defense services provided to the Government of Taiwan by DOD (or foreign countries at U.S. request). |
|
O&M |
- |
$743.9 |
- |
- |
Budget authority provided to Defense-Wide accounts but not specified for Ukraine, Israel, or Taiwan purposes in bill text. |
|
DPA Purchases |
- |
- |
$132.6 |
$132.6 |
No purpose specified. |
|
Subtotal, Indo-Pacific/SIB |
$3,295.3 |
$6,614.1 |
$5,870.2 |
$5,870.2 |
|
|
DOD |
$58,343.1 |
$67,342.5 |
$67,342.5 |
$67,342.5 |
|
Sources: CRS analysis of P.L. 118-50, H.R. 815, H.R. 8034, H.R. 8035, H.R. 8036, and Office of Management and Budget, Letter to Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives, October 20, 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Letter-regarding-critical-national-security-funding-needs-for-FY-2024.pdf.
Notes: Admin. = Administration. "Initial Senate-passed Amount" reflects appropriations that would have been provided by H.R. 815 as passed by the Senate on February 13, 2024. This table does not include non-defense appropriations.
a. As detailed in the Administration's initial request and/or the enacted legislation.
b. The administration initially requested these RDT&E funds for transfer to the government of Israel for development of the Iron Beam defense system. Subsequent bills made provision for this using Procurement funds.
c. Transfer authority to O&M, Procurement, and Revolving and Management Funds accounts
d. The Administration's initial request included these appropriations under "Attachment 4 - Submarine Industrial Base"; the same appropriations were included in the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 8036) and Division C (Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024) of P.L. 118-50.
Discussion
Of the total DOD budget authority provided by P.L. 118-50, $48.43 billion (72%) was for purposes related to Ukraine, $13.04 billion (19%) for purposes related to Israel, and $5.87 billion (9%) for purposes related to the Indo-Pacific. These funds were designated as emergency requirements pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177), meaning they do not count against the spending caps established by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-5). Some funds have been made transferable between different appropriations accounts at DOD's discretion.
The consideration and passage of P.L. 118-50 were attended by considerable debate among Members, policymakers, and other stakeholders, particularly regarding provisions relating to Ukraine and Israel. Since February 2022, the United States has provided more than $44 billion of security assistance to Ukraine; the United States has also provided defense-related support to Israel following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12040, U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine and CRS Report R47828, Israel and Hamas Conflict In Brief: Overview, U.S. Policy, and Options for Congress.
Ukraine
In total, P.L. 118-50 provided DOD $48.43 billion in new budget authority related to Ukraine.
The majority of this went to DOD O&M accounts, which received $34.2 billion. Of this total, $27.9 billion was provided for the Defense-Wide O&M account "to respond to the situation in Ukraine and for related expenses," with the further stipulation that $13.8 billion was to be used for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program to procure defense equipment for provision to Ukraine. In addition, the act authorized up to $13.4 billion for transfer to O&M, Procurement, and Revolving and Management Funds accounts to replace equipment provided to Ukraine from U.S. stocks.
In addition, P.L. 118-50 provided $13.3 billion for various procurement accounts; $633 million for various RDT&E accounts; and $238 million for various MILPERS accounts.
P.L. 118-50 also authorized DOD to transfer up to $1 billion of these funds between accounts.
Israel
In total, P.L. 118-50 provided DOD $13 billion in new budget authority related to Israel.
The largest portion of this went to DOD procurement accounts, which received $6 billion. Of this total, $5.2 billion was provided to the Defense-wide Procurement account for transfer directly to the government of Israel, with the intent that $4 billion be used for Israeli procurement of the Iron Dome and David's Sling defense systems and $1.2 billion for Israeli procurement of the Iron Beam defense system. The remaining $800 million was provided to the Procurement of Ammunition, Army account.
In addition, P.L. 118-50 provided $4.4 billion for the Defense-wide O&M account "to respond to the situation in Israel," and authorized the transfer of these funds to other accounts. The legislation also provided $199 million for the Defense Production Act Purchases (DPAP) account, as well as $2.4 billion for transfer to MILPERS, O&M, Procurement, RDT&E, or Defense Working Capital Funds accounts to support "U.S. operations, force protection, deterrence, and the replacement of combat expenditures" in the Middle East.
Indo-Pacific
In total, P.L. 118-50 provided DOD $5.87 billion in new budget authority related to the Indo-Pacific.
The largest portion of this went to DOD procurement accounts, which received $2.45 billion. Of this total, $2.16 billion was provided for the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy account, with the stipulation that $1.96 billion would be used for Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) procurement and $200 million for Virginia-class attack submarine (SSN) procurement. The remaining $294 million was provided for the Other Procurement, Navy account "to support improvements to the submarine industrial base."
In addition, P.L. 118-50 provided $1.9 billion for the O&M, Defense-wide account "to respond to the situation in Taiwan," and authorized the transfer of these funds to other accounts to replace equipment provided to Taiwan. The legislation also appropriated $558 million for the O&M, Navy account to improve the submarine industrial base.
P.L. 118-50 also appropriated $282 million for the MILCON, Navy and Marine Corps account to improve the submarine industrial base, as well as $133 million for the DPAP account, $7 million for the RDT&E, Navy account, and $542 million for transfer to O&M, procurement, and RDT&E accounts to support FY2024 "unfunded priorities of the United States Indo-Pacific Command."