HONOLULU, Dec. 24 (UPI) — While on vacation Friday, President Barack Obama signed the annual defense authorization act into law — which authorizes more than $600 billion for the U.S. military next year.
The bill, which approves $619 billion in funding, authorizes various fiscal policy elements for the Pentagon — including a 2 percent pay raise for service members and greater medical care for them in the future. The measure also sets spending priorities and guidance for the fiscal year.
The actual funding will be allotted by a separate spending bill, which is expected sometime this spring.
The pay raise, which takes effect Jan. 1, will translate to about $500 more per year for enlisted members and about $1,800 for officers, the Military Times reported — their largest pay increase since 2010.
The authorization bill also allows for about 23,000 more service members than the White House requested for 2017 — 16,000 in the Army, 4,000 for the Air Force and 3,000 in the Marine Corps.
Obama had requested only $616 billion for the military in 2017, and the White House threatened a veto of the bill due to the additional $3 billion. The president, though “disappointed,” signed it Friday while in Hawaii on holiday vacation with his family.
“Congress again failed to enact meaningful reforms to divest unneeded force structure, reduce wasteful overhead, and modernize military healthcare,” he said in a statement. “Instead, the Congress redirects funding needed to support the warfighter to fund additional end-strength that our military leaders have not requested at a time when our troops are engaged overseas supporting the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and against al-Qaida.”
Obama said he signed the bill because, while not ideal, it contained several valuable elements, such as the pay increase.
