Defense: FY2011 Authorization and Appropriations

Pat Towell, Coordinator
Specialist in U.S. Defense Policy and Budget

The President's FY2011 budget request, released February 1, 2010, included $733.3 billion in new budget authority for national defense. In addition to $548.9 billion for the regular (non-war) operations of the Department of Defense (DOD), the request included $159.3 billion for ongoing military operations, primarily funding the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, bringing the total DOD request for FY2011 to $708.3 billion. The balance of the request is $25.1 billion for defense-related activities by agencies other than DOD, the largest component of which was $17.8 billion for Energy Department programs related to either nuclear weapons or nuclear power plants for Navy ships. 

The President also requested supplemental appropriations for FY2010 totaling $33.6 billion. This included $33.0 billion for war costs and $655 million to pay DOD's share of the cost of humanitarian relief operations in Haiti, which was struck on January 12, 2010 by a devastating earthquake. 

The $548.9 billion requested for DOD's so-called "base budget" – that is, all activities other than those associated with ongoing combat operations – is $18.2 billion higher than the amount appropriated for DOD non-war costs in FY2010. By DOD's estimate, this 3.4% increase would amount to a "real" increase of 1.8% in "purchasing power, after taking into account the cost of inflation. 

The budget request would continue the Administration's policy of expanding the proportion of DOD's budget invested in capabilities oriented toward counterinsurgency and other unconventional types of combat, including helicopters, special operations forces, and unmanned vehicles. The budget includes no funding to continue production of the C-17 cargo plane or to continue development of the F-136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, two programs Congress has funded in recent years over the objections of the Bush and Obama Administrations. 

The House Armed Services Committee began formal legislative action on the FY2011 defense budget request, approving on May 19, 2010 H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2011. As reported by the committee (H.Rept. 111-491), the bill would authorize $725.9 billion for DOD and other defense-related activities, a reduction of $2.7 million from the Administration's request for programs covered by that legislation. 

The bill would add to the budget $485 million to continue development of the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, despite warnings by Defense Secretary Robert H. Gates that he would recommend a veto of any bill that would continue that project. The committee bill included no funds for the procurement of additional C-17s.


Date of Report: May 25, 2010
Number of Pages: 49
Order Number: R41254
Price: $29.95

Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.