President Joe Biden approved a budget of $886.3 billion that will be allocated primarily to the Department of Defense. The budget was approved by both the House and Senate and is more than 3,000 pages long.
Despite his support, the Democrat also expressed concern about various issues that, in his opinion, should be considered in the National Defense Authorization Act. For example, he referred to the prohibition of funds to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the custody of certain countries.
"Section 1033 of the Act continues to bar the use of funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to transfer Guantánamo Bay detainees to the custody or effective control of certain foreign countries. Section 1031 likewise would continue to prohibit the use of such funds to transfer Guantánamo Bay detainees into the United States," the president said in a statement published by the White House.
I urge Congress to remove these restrictions as soon as possible. Furthermore, some provisions of the Law raise constitutional or interpretation problems.
"Various provisions may interfere with the president's exercise of authority"
Likewise, the president explained that "several provisions of the Law can, in certain circumstances, interfere with the president's exercise of constitutional authority to articulate United States positions in international negotiations or forums, including sections 825(c)(1), 1013(b), 1255(b)(2), 1256(c)(2), 1305, 1309(a), 1518(a) , 5411(a), 5602(c) and 6406."
According to calculations by various media outlets, such as Axios, the "record figure of $886 billion is 3% more than last year." In that sense, troops will receive a 5.2% salary increase.
This year's law, among other things, also allows the Department of Defense to continue security assistance to Ukraine through 2027. It will also allow joint actions with countries like Israel until 2026.
