S2226-118

To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.

118th Congress

At a Glance

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Legislative Progress

No timeline data available

Summary

What This Bill Does
This is the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, the annual legislation that authorizes funding for Department of Defense activities, military construction, and Department of Energy nuclear security programs. It sets military personnel strength levels and establishes defense policy for the fiscal year.

Who Benefits and How
Defense contractors benefit from authorized procurement funding, including a multiyear contract for 10 Virginia-class submarines. Military personnel receive authorized pay and benefits. The defense industrial base, particularly cannon tube manufacturers and ammunition plants, gains investment through required planning. Night vision device manufacturers benefit from Army acquisition strategy requirements.

Who Bears the Burden and How
The federal budget bears the overall defense authorization costs. Military service secretaries face extensive reporting requirements on acquisition strategies, fleet inventories, and program updates. Some aircraft programs face restrictions—RQ-4 drones cannot be retired through 2028, and T-1A trainer divestiture requires certification of training pipeline impacts.

Key Provisions
- Authorizes FY2024 defense procurement, R&D, and operations funding
- Multiyear procurement authority for 10 Virginia-class submarines
- Extends prohibition on Navy port waterborne security barriers through 2024
- Restricts RQ-4 aircraft retirement through September 30, 2028
- Requires Army updates on ammunition plant master plans through 2030
- Updates carrier air wing minimum requirements
- Sets military personnel strength levels

Model: claude-opus-4-5
Generated: Dec 26, 2025 21:51

Evidence Chain:

This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

Primary Purpose

Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for Department of Defense military activities, military construction, Department of Energy defense activities, and sets military personnel strengths.

Policy Domains

Defense Military National Security Military Construction

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Defense Military
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of Defense
"the_secretary_of_army"
→ Secretary of the Army
"the_secretary_of_navy"
→ Secretary of the Navy
"the_secretary_of_air_force"
→ Secretary of the Air Force
Domains
Military Construction
Domains
Energy Nuclear Weapons
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary_of_energy"
→ Secretary of Energy

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

1 term
"congressional defense committees" §3

As defined in 10 USC 101(a)(16) - Armed Services and Appropriations committees

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology