Trump okays $717 billion defense bill. Here’s what the Pentagon gets

Department of Defense photo

U.S. Navy Aviation Electronics Technician signals to the crew of an EA-18G Growler on the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

President Donald Trump approved a colossal defense policy bill Monday that authorizes a top-line budget of $717 billion to cover a litany of defense spending.

Trump traveled to Fort Drum, home of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division in upstate New York to sign the bill, which was named in honor of former Vietnam prisoner of war Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who is battling brain cancer.

The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, includes $616.9 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, another $69 billion for the overseas contingency operations, or OCO, funding and $21.9 billion for nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department. The NDAA is only half of the process since Congress must still pass a spending bill to fund specific priorities with the Defense Department.

“The National Defense Authorization Act is the most significant investment in our military and our war fighters in modern history,” Trump said Monday in front of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter. “We are going to strengthen our military like never ever before and that’s what we did.”

Trump lauded the bill,saying it will give service members the “finest planes, and ships and tanks and missiles.”

The measure authorizes a 2.6 percent pay raise for troops – the largest in nearly a decade. It also delays the delivery of stealth fighter aircraft to Turkey and blunts Chinese investments by strengthening the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the big ticket items the Pentagon is authorized to buy.