What's in the Senate-Passed National Security Supplemental?
Earlier this week, the Senate passed the National Security Act that combines aid to Ukraine and Israel with other defense-related priorities. Based on the score from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill would provide $95.5 billion of emergency discretionary budget authority. Compared with the previous $118 billion version of the supplemental that failed to advance in the Senate, this version excludes the negotiated border security appropriations and immigration policy changes. Like the earlier version of the supplemental, none of the stated costs include offsets, meaning the entirety of the bill's $94.7 billion cost would be added to deficits over the next decade.
The bill's funding includes over $60 billion of military aid to Ukraine, more than $14 billion of military aid for Israel, $2.4 billion for other U.S. operations responding to activity in the Red Sea, and more than $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region and submarine capacity building. Nearly $10 billion of funding would be for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza, $1.4 billion would be for refugee assistance for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, and roughly $425 million in other funding would be used for homeland security grants to protect places of worship and oversight funds for inspectors general. While the bill only provided an additional $481 million for refugee funding, CBO scored its language as increasing total funding that would be spent at $1.4 billion.
CBO estimates that the bill's $95.5 billion net increase in budget authority would result in $94.7 billion in higher outlays – all of which would be added to deficits over the next decade.
What's in the National Security Act?
| Policy | Ten-Year Cost / Savings (-) |
|---|---|
| Ukraine military aid | $60.1 billion |
| Israel military aid | $14.1 billion |
| Humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza | $9.6 billion |
| Funding for Indo-Pacific region and submarine capacity building | $8.1 billion |
| Funding to address conflict in the Red Sea | $2.4 billion |
| Aid to Ukrainian refugees | $1.4 billion |
| Other funding | $0.4 billion |
| Increase in energy-related offsetting receipts | -$0.5 billion |
| Total | $95.5 billion |
| Memo: Increase in Outlays | $94.7 billion |
Sources: Senate Appropriations Committee and Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Numbers may not sum due to rounding.
As the House considers whether to take up this supplemental and both chambers work to complete Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations, lawmakers should be careful of adding extra costs without offsets. Ideally, policymakers should make an effort to pay for this cost and prevent further increases to the national debt.
