The US Senate invoked cloture on a motion to proceed to the legislation on Tuesday in a vote of 72-25.
Last week, the US Senate Armed Services Committee released its version of the FY2024 NDAA as the House considered and ultimately passed its own amended variation of the bill. Both versions authorize approximately $886 billion.
Senate leadership has expressed a desire to pass the legislation before lawmakers leave Washington for their August recess. However, the Senate and House versions will need to be reconciled before finalization.
The House considered hundreds of amendments to its version of the NDAA, while the Senate is set to consider several dozen, according to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Amendments in the Senate cover areas including artificial intelligence (AI) technology and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) disclosure.
The White House Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday released a statement expressing gratitude to the Senate for its bipartisan work on the bill. The Biden administration looks forward to working with lawmakers to set "appropriate and responsible" levels of defense and non-defense spending, the statement said.
Given the short timeframe between public release of the Senate’s bill and their action on it, the administration is not providing a detailed view of the legislation at this time, the statement added.
Earlier this month, the White House released a statement broadly supporting enactment of the FY2024 NDAA, while urging lawmakers to reconsider certain provisions.