Each year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorizes funding levels and provides authorities for the U.S. military and other critical defense priorities, ensuring our troops have the training, equipment, and resources they need to carry out their missions. On July 21, 2021, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted in bipartisan fashion, 23-3, to advance the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 passes the House.

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

This bill authorizes Department of Defense (DOD) activities for FY2023 and addresses related issues.

For example, the bill:

Authorizes the procurement of various items, including destroyers and aircraft;

Modifies inventory requirements for various Air Force programs;

Authorizes DOD to furnish electric vehicle charging stations at commissary stores and military exchanges;

Requires DOD to provide, subject to appropriations, support for the research and development of innovative bioindustrial manufacturing processes;

Requires DOD to carry out a pilot program to facilitate the transition of certain nontactical vehicles to electric vehicles;

Requires the Army and the Navy to jointly carry out a pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of using data recorders to monitor the operation of military tactical vehicles;

Prescribes end strengths for the branches of the Armed Forces;

Requires the branches of the Armed Forces to notify Congress before taking certain actions regarding reserve units, such as the deactivation or reassignment of such a unit;

Requires the Army to establish gender-neutral fitness standards for military occupational specialties that are higher than those for noncombat military occupational specialties;

Requires the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress recommendations for improving the retention and recruitment of members who specialize in Army air and missile defense systems, and requires the Army to implement the recommendations;

Requires the Department of Homeland Security to designate a laboratory as the Chemical Security Analysis Center; and

provides statutory authority for an April 27, 2021, executive order raising the minimum wage for the employees of federal contractors.