The House of Representatives of the US Congress passed a bill on defense spending in 2025 in the amount of 883 billion 700 million dollars.
Points of attention
- The US defense budget for 2025 amounts to 883.7 billion dollars, with a focus on salary increases for military personnel and funding for aircraft production and military aid to Taiwan.
- The House of Representatives did not include provisions for aid to Ukraine in the defense budget for 2025, while the Senate had proposed extending lend-lease for Ukraine.
- A controversial provision in the bill restricts the use of TRICARE funds for gender-affirming care for the children of military personnel, sparking debate.
- The Embassy of Ukraine is actively advocating to preserve the lend-lease mechanism for Ukraine within the framework of the Stand with Ukraine Act, despite its absence in the House-approved budget.
- The defense budget draft has been submitted to the Senate for consideration, highlighting ongoing discussions and negotiations regarding military spending and support for Ukraine.
What does the US defense budget look like for 2025
It is noted that the draft defense budget has already been submitted to the Senate for consideration.
According to the journalists of the publication, among the expenses in the amount of 883.7 billion dollars, the following is expected:
salary increase by 14.5% for junior servicemen,
and a 4.5% raise for all other military personnel.
Next year, the Pentagon will receive funding for the production of 200 aircraft and 300 units of military transport.
The bill also provides for the creation of a special fund for military aid to Taiwan.
The most controversial provision of the document is the restriction on the use of funds from TRICARE, the health care program for active-duty military personnel, for gender-affirming care for the children of military personnel aged 18 and younger.
What is known about aid to Ukraine
According to Oksana Markarova, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the USA, the draft law on US defense spending for 2025, adopted by the House of Representatives, does not have a clause regarding the extension of Lend-Lease for Ukraine.
The ambassador noted that the US defense budget approved by the Senate for the next year contained provisions on extending the Lend-Lease Law to protect democracy in Ukraine.
However, the bill approved by the House of Representatives did not contain such a provision. The relevant provision is not included in the consolidated text of the draft law.
According to her, the embassy continues to actively work to preserve this mechanism, which, in particular, is provided for in the bipartisan and bicameral bill "Stand with Ukraine Act".
