National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

S. 2943 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

(Sen. McCain, R-AZ)

The Administration appreciates the Senate Armed Services Committee's continued support of our national defense and supports a number of provisions in S. 2943, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017.  The Administration also appreciates that S. 2943, as reported by the Committee, would authorize resources to support our troops in a manner that is consistent with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 without relying on budgetary gimmicks that risk the safety of our service members and undercut stable planning and efficient use of taxpayer dollars.  Of particular note are provisions supporting the Administration's pay raise and force structure requests.  As the bill is considered by the Senate, it is critical that the Congress adhere to the principle that any increase in funding must be shared equally between defense and non-defense – a central tenet of last fall's budget agreement.

The Administration strongly objects to many provisions in this bill that would hinder the Department of Defense's (DOD) ability to execute the President's defense strategy and the Administration's ability to carry out national security and foreign policy.  Specifically, the bill attempts to micromanage DOD by impeding the Department's ability to respond to changing circumstances, directing overly prescriptive organizational changes, preventing the closure of Guantanamo, and limiting U.S. engagement with Cuba, and includes provisions that set an arbitrary limit on the size of the President's National Security Council staff.  The bill would undermine expert judgments of the Department's civilian and military leadership and constrain the ability of the President and the Secretary of Defense to appropriately manage and direct the Nation's defense.

Reorganizing DOD without careful study and consideration would undermine the Department's ability to continue to carry out its national security functions, and comes at a dangerous time, with U.S. forces deployed across the globe, including as part of the Counter-ISIL campaign and NATO mission in Afghanistan.  S. 2943 would restructure key parts of DOD in ways that have not been thoroughly reviewed by experts, either within or outside the Department, and that are likely to make the Department less efficient and agile.  For example, it would dissolve the Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (USD/AT&L) and replace it with failed models of the past.  USD/AT&L has a track record of improved acquisition performance for the taxpayer since the implementation of the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (WSARA) and the Better Buying Power initiatives of 2010 to the present.  The bill would create dysfunctional partitions across DOD's research, engineering, procurement, and sustainment systems that will make it harder to sustain the Department's improved performance.  The bill would reverse key aspects of WSARA, which reinforced early attention to requirements, cost and schedule estimates, testing, and reliability.  The bill also would insert a civilian, other than the President or the Secretary of Defense, into the administrative chain of command for the first time.  Simultaneously, it would direct the establishment of cross-functional entities, which in many cases already exist, but, if structured as the bill requires, would undermine the authority of the Secretary, add bureaucracy, and confuse lines of responsibility. 

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Source: Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget