Overview

This week, Congress begins consideration of the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Enactment of the FY24 NDAA is required by 31 December 2023. The NDAA has been continuously passed and enacted for 62 years. The House of Representatives and Senate continue to wield considerable oversight over Department of Defense (DOD) programs and spending due to continuous passage of the annual defense bill.

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will kick off the annual NDAA cycle on Thursday 11 May and Friday 12 May. The markup process begins at the subcommittee level. Each subcommittee will vote to report their respective subcommittee proposals, as amended, to the full committee. 

Thursday 11 May

• Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation (9:00 AM EDT)
• Subcommittee on Strategic Forces (10:00 AM EDT)
• Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces (11:00 AM EDT)
• Subcommittee on Military Personnel (12:00 PM EDT)
• Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (1:00 PM EDT) 
• Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations (3:00 PM EDT) 

Friday 12 May

• Subcommittee on Readiness (8:30 AM EDT)  

The HASC full committee markup will take place on Tuesday 23 May (10:00 AM EDT). The full committee markup is a marathon session that can last well past 14 hours.

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) has not publicly released the markup schedule for its version of the NDAA.

However, we understand SASC subcommittee markups will reportedly begin on Tuesday 30 May and resume on Wednesday 31 May.

The SASC full committee markup was scheduled for Thursday 1 June. However, due to the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations between the House and the Biden Administration, full committee markup will occur in mid-June.

Final negotiations between the final House and Senate versions of the legislation may include controversial amendments or riders. Because it is viewed as “must pass,” the NDAA attracts unrelated legislation in search of a vehicle for enactment.

K&L Gates lawyers and policy professionals have deep expertise in the NDAA process along with national security policy issues. Please contact us with any questions.