Nearly halfway through the fiscal year that started in October and just hours after funding for the Defense Department and many other agencies ran out on Friday, Congress enacted the fiscal 2024 defense budget bill early on Saturday.

The Pentagon will be able to start the projects and start buying important weaponry systems it had planned for this year thanks to the $825 billion bill. Congress used a number of temporary measures to finance the Defense Department at FY23 levels for more than five months, preventing a government shutdown but impeding those programs and purchase plans.

Before the chamber’s vote, House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas, stated, “We made changes and decided on efforts that include countering China, developing next-generation weapons, and investing in the quality of life of our service members.” “I am pleased to announce that this bill enhances national security and provides vital funding for defense initiatives.”

The measure was passed by the House 286-134 as part of a larger appropriations package that complies with the expenditure restrictions set by the debt ceiling agreement from the previous year. Shortly after the vote, Granger—who is not seeking reelection—announced her resignation as chair of the Appropriations committee in anticipation of another protracted budget process for FY25.

The bipartisan funding measure was then approved by the Senate, 74–24. Signing the measure is President Joe Biden’s commitment.

In addition to allocating cash for 86 F-35 and 24 F-15EX fighter fighters as well as 15 KC-46A tankers, the measure contains $33.5 billion for the construction of eight ships. Additionally, the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic weapon system and the Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon are worth a combined $2.1 billion.

Additionally, it provides funding for multiyear contracts to acquire six essential weapons systems: the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, and the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System.

The Pentagon believes that employing multiyear contracts for ammunition would maintain demand stability, which in turn encourages defense companies to scale up production capacity. Normally, multiyear contracts are reserved for expensive items like ships and airplanes. The defense-industrial complex in the United States has found it difficult to swiftly restock the armaments worth billions of dollars that Ukraine has taken from American stockpiles.

The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which enables the Pentagon to award contracts for additional equipment to be sent to Kyiv, is also included in the bill at $300 million. That sum is less than the $60 billion in economic and security assistance for Kyiv that the Senate’s foreign aid package offers.

The aid measure for Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine was approved by the Senate in February by a vote of 70–29, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has refused to bring it up for a floor vote because of opposition from the presumed Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump.

The right wing of Johnson’s caucus has also taken offense at him for collaborating with Democrats to finance the administration. Because of similar complaints, a tiny minority of Republicans forced the resignation of his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., which led to three weeks of chaos in the House as the caucus couldn’t agree on a new leader.

Shortly after the House cleared the budget bill, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a similar resolution to remove Johnson. However, it remains uncertain if she or any other member of the caucus would truly start a vote to dismiss Johnson when Congress reconvenes in April following a two-week break. It is certain that Greene and other right-wing senators would be incensed if a Ukraine aid package was introduced.