After sifting through more than 1,300 proposed amendments for the annual defense policy bill, the House Rules Committee voted 9-4 on Tuesday to advance the bill to the House for a floor vote. The amendments were narrowed down to 350, with several tech provisions included in the final version.
The Service Member Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 would authorize $849.8 billion for the Department of Defense (DoD), consistent with the spending cap laid out in last year’s debt ceiling agreement.
As it stands, the bill would authorize critical investments in artificial intelligence technology, strengthen cyber capabilities, and bolster various technology initiatives at the DoD.
The House plans to pick up the bill for a vote this week. The Senate Armed Services Committee will begin marking its version of the bill on Wednesday afternoon.
AI Amendments Cleared for FY 2025 NDAA Passage
The Rules Committee has greenlit a series of AI provisions for the FY2025 NDAA. Among the included amendments are initiatives to educate service members on AI and measures to expedite the technology’s adoption.
One provision mandates the secretary of defense, working with the chief data and artificial intelligence officer (CDAO), to facilitate the swift adoption of large language models.
“This involves enhancing access to and the quality of the department’s existing structured and unstructured data, ensuring its immediate usability alongside machine learning applications developed, tested, or in production by the Armed Forces,” according to the bill.
Another amendment suggests that the DoD employ AI to achieve a clean audit of its financial statements, a task that has historically been challenging for the DoD. However, there have been recent successes; as of February 2024, the Marine Corps and four smaller DoD components initiated the use of a new financial system, leading to the attainment of clean audit opinions.
Lawmakers also greenlit an amendment tasking the DoD’s Chief Artificial Intelligence Office with reporting to Congress on the effectiveness of the agency’s current AI workforce.
“This report will identify any gaps in skills and training necessary to uphold the United States’ global technological competitiveness,” the bill reads.
Continuing the focus on AI education, the bill would also mandate all military branches to partake in the CDAO’s Digital On-Demand education program. This initiative offers access to AI and emerging technology education courses.
Few Cyber Amendments Get Go-Ahead, Many Left Out
During deliberations, two significant cyber provisions successfully made their way onto the current FY2025 NDAA.
One amendment mandates the DoD to produce a report for Congress evaluating the feasibility of equipping the National Guard of every state with a dedicated cyber unit. This measure “aims to ensure that each state possesses the capacity to promptly respond to cyberattacks, bolstering national cyber resilience,” the bill text reads.
Additionally, another amendment would implement the “Project Spectrum” program within the DoD’s Office of Small Business Programs. This initiative facilitates the provision of digital resources and services to small or medium-sized businesses that supply the department.
“Through an online platform, Project Spectrum aims to enhance awareness of cybersecurity risks and assist these entities in complying with the cybersecurity requirements of the defense acquisition system,” the bill reads.
Yet, most proposed cyber-related provisions were excluded.
Among them was an amendment intended to modernize the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), last updated in 2014.
“This proposal aimed to clarify Federal cybersecurity roles and responsibilities, streamlining agency reporting requirements and reducing the frequency of FISMA assessments. Additionally, it called for the implementation of continuous monitoring of systems—a measure intended to enhance cybersecurity posture across Federal agencies,” the bill reads.
Another amendment that landed on the chopping block was a proposal authorizing the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to establish an apprenticeship program and a pilot program on cybersecurity training for veterans and members of the Armed Forces transitioning to civilian life and other purposes.
UAP Provisions Axed from FY 2025 NDAA
In a decisive move, the Rules Committee opted to ground UFO amendments, stripping them from the FY 2025 NDAA.
Among the over 1,300 proposed amendments brought before the committee, key provisions addressed concerns surrounding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
Notably, one of these amendments sought to enact the remaining components of the Schumer-Rounds UAP Disclosure Act, which had passed the Senate but was excluded from the final FY2024 NDAA. This measure aimed to establish a UAP Records Review Board endowed with eminent domain authority over UAP-related materials under the control of private individuals or entities.
Despite these setbacks, there remains a glimmer of hope for UAP legislation to find its place within the NDAA. If similar provisions were included in the Senate’s version of the bill, they would undergo further scrutiny in a conference committee.
