The Senate passed the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, sending the $895 billion package to the president’s desk.
The defense policy bill contains dozens of provisions focused on energy and the environment and would require the Pentagon to further embrace nuclear energy, clean up contaminated installations and boost mineral production.
Most of the other energy and environment-related priorities that members had hoped to see attached to the NDAA — permitting reform, a natural resources package and a number of reauthorizations — did not make the cut and will not pass at all this year.
The “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act” is a compromise between the conservative-leaning House version and the more bipartisan Senate version. Armed Services leaders spent months negotiating the deal and released the final product earlier this month.
