As Congress prepares to vote on a final Department of Energy budget that would substantially increase funding for nuclear-warhead refurbishments, lawmakers are also racing toward a compromise on a separate spending measure that could accelerate development of the missile that will carry those weapons.
House and Senate lawmakers are scheduled today to meet for final negotiations on H.R. 6157: another so-called minibus appropriations package that would fund the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education for fiscal 2019.
Depending on which chamber gets its way, the bill might provide the Defense Department with funding the House and Senate Armed Services committees have directed the Pentagon to spend on quicker development of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) and the Long-Range Standoff weapon (LRSO). These are, respectively, next-generation intercontinental ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads provided by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
For GBSD, the Senate met the White House’s request of roughly $345 million. The House recommended almost $415 million, about $70 million more than the White House sought.
The Senate proposed $625 million for LRSO, while the House called for some $700 million. The Senate proposal is about $10 million more than the White House requested, while the House offered up an additional $65 million.
Lawmakers are set this week to approve a separate Department of Energy appropriations bill that raises funding for the NNSA W80-4 warhead life-extension program by about 65 percent, to $655 million. The increase is intended to ensure the warhead’s development paces that of its LRSO carrier missile, and that both are ready to be deployed in the late 2020s, as the Pentagon plans.
For each next-generation missile — both of which are in competitive technology development phases with an eye toward down-select and final deployment in the next decade — House appropriators recommended the amount of 2019 funding authorized by the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act signed in August.
