House Passes NDAA; Senate Expected to Follow
The House passed the National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday evening, sending the bill to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass. The White House has said President Trump plans to sign it into law. Read On Base’s analysis of what is – and is not – in the...
Lowey: Approps Deal Possible on Thursday
House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that there may be a deal on spending bills by “the end of the day” Thursday, CQ reported Wednesday night. Republican negotiators send Lowey another offer Wednesday, “and we’re discussing it and we...
Space Force Champions on Hill Talk about New Branch
If approved by Congress, a new space force would remain a part of the Air Force for the foreseeable future, one of the force’s top champions in Congress predicted Wednesday. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said he doesn’t see a need to make it its own service. “It just...
Map from Environmental Working Group Shows 305 Bases that Used PFAS Foam
The Environmental Working Group has released a new interactive map that shows more than 300 installations it says has used firefighting foam containing PFAS. “It’s clear that the military is failing to take responsibility for PFAS pollution, and that the extent of...
NDAA: What’s in the Bill the House Will Consider Weds.
The House will consider a final version of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday. The deal announced by negotiators in the House and Senate authorizes $735 billion in DOD spending and $8 billion for related programs in other departments....
NDAA: Bill Funds Community Infrastructure Projects
The compromise defense policy bill lawmakers plan to consider authorizes $75 million for the Office of Economic Adjustment’s Defense Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP). The initiative, which supports community infrastructure projects that affect military quality...
PAST STORIES
NDAA Leaves PFAS Fight Unsettled
The National Defense Authorization Act deal bans DOD from using PFAS at installations after 2024, but the final bill does not include House-passed language requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the chemicals. “These chemicals are endangering...
Judge Rules Administration Can’t Use MILCON Money for Wall
A federal judge issued a permanent injunction Tuesday night to stop the Trump administration from moving $3.6 billion from the military construction budget to pay for border wall construction. The same judge in Texas had temporarily halted the construction funding in...
Key Appropriator Says Border Deal Is ‘Tenuous’
House-Senate appropriations negotiators continued working toward a spending deal Monday night, with a “tenuous” agreement on border wall funding, according to Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.). The border wall is...
Security Beefed Up at Installations
Bases in the continental United States are increasing security following three recent attacks, Politico reported. Northern Command has ordered installations “to immediately assess force protection measures and implement increased random security measures appropriate...
GAO Says DOD Needs Better Study of Bases’ Water Scarcity Risk
DOD may be using unreliable data in its assessment that 102 installations are at risk of running out of water, the Government Accountability Office determined in a recent report. The Pentagon’s data varied across the services and department, GAO concluded,...
Esper: ‘Night Court’ Reviews Have Saved $5 Billion
DOD has identified $5 billion in savings during the first four months of the so-called “night court” review of fourth estate offices, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said over the weekend at the Reagan National Defense Forum, according to Defense News. “Within the...
NDAA May Move Fast After Deal on Space Force, Family Leave
Democrats seem willing to create the Space Force as a sixth branch of the military in exchange for paid parental leave for all federal personnel, according to the Washington Post’s coverage of a National Defense Authorization Act deal that emerged over the weekend....
Appropriators Work Toward Deal Before Dec. 20 Shutdown
The federal government is currently operating under a continuing resolution that expires at the end of next week. Members and staff of the House and Senate appropriations committees worked throughout the weekend in hopes of passing all 12 spending bills before the...
DOD to Review Base Security After Three Incidents
The Navy will look for ways to upgrade security at installations following recent shootings at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and a fatal gate-running incident at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Va.,...
Special Committee Weighing a Return of Earmarks
A select committee formed to update House rules may consider re-instating earmarks. The practice was banned after a series of high-profile scandals. The bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, led by Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) and Tom Graves...
Negotiators Hope for Spending Deal this Weekend
House and Senate appropriators are trying to settle differences over the next few days in an attempt to pass all 12 annual appropriations bills by Dec. 20, when current government spending runs out. “I'm more enthusiastic than I was a couple of days ago,” said the...
Smith: Administration Has More Border Money than It Can Spend
House Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Senate Republicans should not hold up last-minute deals by insisting on additional border wall funding, because the administration can’t spend the border funds it currently has. The White House transferred...
Lawmakers Praise Spouses for Speaking Up on Housing Concerns
Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) told executives of top private on-base housing companies that he is concerned that poor housing conditions only came to light when military families spoke up. “The Pentagon didn’t come to Congress and say, ‘We have a problem.’ You didn’t...
In Our Communities
Middle Georgia State University has partnered with Robins Air Force Base, Ga., to launch the Center for Software Innovation, “designed to identify software development projects that will elevate regional companies, nonprofits, startups and other organizations,”...
Appropriators Hope to Resolve Disputes this Week
Appropriators hope to work out preliminary differences in their spending bills this week, lawmakers said Wednesday. “It’s slow, but at least we’re moving forward,” said Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Homeland Security Appropriations...
NDAA Deal May Be Close
Talks on the National Defense Authorization Act hinge on a few remaining issues, and a deal could be just days away, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Wednesday, according to a CQ report. House and Senate negotiators are still talking...
ADC Names 5 Great American Defense Communities for 2020
Five communities have been named to the 2020 class of Great American Defense Communities. ADC announced the selections in a press release. The communities are Central Arkansas; Davis and Weber counties in Utah; the Greater Abilene region in Texas; Junction City, Kan.;...
5G Will Make Bases More Secure, Army Official Says
DOD is bringing 5G to installations in a measured way instead of letting the rollout get “unwieldy and potentially pricey,” an Army official said. “The opportunities at posts, camps and stations are boundless,” Maj. Gen. David Isaacson, the Army’s director of...
NDAA: Lawmakers' Frustrations Showing
The top Republicans on the Armed Services committees said Tuesday that House and Senate leaders will need to push the National Defense Authorization Act over the finish line. “We’ve done our job, and now it’s going to be up to leadership on whether they want a bill or...
Appropriations: House Dems Want All or Nothing; Another CR May Be in Store
House Democrats will insist that negotiators agree on all 12 spending bills before bringing any of them up for a vote, CQ reported Tuesday, citing “sources familiar with strategy talks.” Senate Defense Appropriations Committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said...
As Senators Question Service Leaders on Housing, GAO Reports Longtime Problem; More Families Sue
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee grilled the secretaries and chiefs of the military services Tuesday on why conditions have not improved in military housing facilities. “We continue to hear regularly from families across the country about questionable...
Schumer Says Dems Won’t Give in on Border Wall Authority
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday that Democratic appropriation negotiators will continue to oppose the use of military construction funds to build a southern border wall. “Senate Democrats strongly oppose the president stealing money from our...
Trump Taps Missouri Vet to Lead Navy’s Installations Office
The White House has nominated Charles Williams to be the Navy’s assistant secretary for installations, energy and the environment. Former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer got pushback from lawmakers when he proposed cutting the position. Williams, a Navy veteran who...
GAO: Navy Infrastructure Upgrade to Cost More than Expected
The Navy is underestimating the cost of a 20-year plan to update infrastructure at Navy shipyards, the Government Accountability Office said in a recent report. The plan, originally estimated to cost $21 billion, would update sites in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Kittery,...
In Our Communities
A $1.5 million partnership will help expand health care for military families in Radcliff, Ky., near Fort Knox, and “explore links between physical, mental, social and financial well-being,” according to a press release. Fort Knox Federal Credit Union pledged the...