Biden signed an $886 billion US defense policy bill into law.

President Joe Biden signed the United States Defense Policy measure into law on Friday, authorizing a record $886 billion in annual military spending. The measure also allows policies such as assistance for Ukraine and pushback against China in the Indo-Pacific region through its provisions.

Congress approved the National Defense Authorization Act, also known as the NDAA, last week. With a solid bipartisan majority of 87 to 13, the United States Senate, which Democrats control, approved the law. On the other hand, the House of Representatives voted in support of the legislation by 310 to 118.

The bill, which is one of the few important pieces of legislation that Congress adopts each year (it is one of the few significant pieces of legislation), governs everything from military personnel pay increases and ship and plane purchases to policies like assistance for foreign allies like Taiwan.

It was about 3,100 pages long, and it asked for a pay boost of 5.2% for military members. Additionally, it increased the total budget for national security in the United States by around 3%, bringing it to $886 billion. In addition, it provides a list of specific Chinese battery businesses that it classifies as being unsuitable for purchase by the Defense Department.

A contentious domestic surveillance power is given an extension of four months as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024. This extension provides legislators with additional time to either reform or maintain the program, which is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

This clause was met with opposition in both the Senate and the House, but it was insufficient to prevent the law from being passed.

Due to this law, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative is one of the measures that will be extended through the end of 2026. Additionally, the bill authorizes $300 million for the program for the fiscal year that will finish on September 30, 2024, and the next fiscal year.

However, this amount is relatively insignificant compared to the $61 billion Vice President Biden requested from Congress to assist Ukraine in its fight against a Russian invasion that started in February 2022. Republicans had previously stated that they would not provide their approval for help to Ukraine unless Democrats agreed to a considerable increase in the strictness of immigration legislation.