Bipartisanship is never dead when it comes to national security. Both parties in Congress agree that delaying consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is unhelpful. This is now the fourth-longest wait for floor time in the past 60 years of consecutive passage of the bill in the US Senate.

As the winter holidays approach, members are getting anxious
because they know a bill should pass for the current fiscal year before the
White House sends its new budget over for the next one in early February.

The second budget of any administration is typically its most
consequential. They have a confirmed political team in place that has had time
to consider options and put their stamp on spending and policies for the
president. For defense, it is also the year the new administration sends over
its five-year detailed spending plan for the military alongside a new defense
strategy.

A congressionally appointed bipartisan commission traditionally
evaluates new defense strategies and their associated risks, force-sizing
constructs, posture recommendations, operational concepts, and assumptions. But
that work only launches with a mandate from Congress via the defense policy
bill. Right now, unfortunately, the timelines are not matching up.

Yet, rumors abound about potential changes to America’s declaratory nuclear policy and about the administration proclaiming integrated deterrence as the cornerstone of the next national defense strategy (NDS). While there is little publicly said about the concept, available details are less than promising. Critics worry this theory will serve as a justification for undermining the US military in favor of other elements of national power — economic, diplomatic, or political — failing to acknowledge that hard power will always underpin soft power.

In theory, enter the National Defense Strategy Commission.

In practice, hurry up and wait for Congress.

The Senate Armed Services Committee included language in Sec. 1061 of its version of the defense bill to establish a “Commission on the National Defense Strategy” within 30 days of release. The commission would receive its usual expansive mandate to assess how well the strategy matches the threat environment, underpinned by sufficient resources, and its implications for force planning and readiness requirements.

China already has the world’s largest standing army, navy, coast guard, maritime militia, and sub-strategic missile force. The Defense Department’s 2021 China Military Report warns of China’s nuclear stockpile increases, ballistic missile buildup at various ranges, power projection investments, and directly acknowledged China’s ambition to “match or surpass U.S. global influence and power.”

By dragging its feet on the National Defense Authorization Act, Congress is putting itself in the backseat of oversight of the Defense Department. The defense authorization bill should be given priority floor time in the Senate before the avalanche of work for the next fiscal year is upon Congress as it wraps up this year’s business.

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