Arms industry cash vs. NDAA votes, pt. 2

Speaking Security Newsletter | Note n°186 | 16 December 2022

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Situation

Following the House’s lead, the Senate passed the fiscal year 2023 NDAA last night, 83-11. The bill authorizes $858.4 billion for the Pentagon, $80.4 billion more than the amount authorized by the FY2022 NDAA.

After the bill passed the House, I compared members’ votes with how much each accepted from the arms industry during the 2022 election cycle. On average, supporters of the military spending hike received seven times more industry cash than those who opposed. The funding disparity between Yes and No votes was evident in both parties.

Arms industry cash vs. FY2023 NDAA votes, pt. 2

I found that the 83 senators who supported the $858 billion Pentagon bill took 5.8 times more money from military contractors than the 11 who opposed it, on average. Among Democrats, the funding disparity between Yes and No votes was 6.2 to 1 ($252,911 to $40,745). For Republicans, it was 5.4 to 1 ($266,250 to $49,142).

Roll call votes are here.

-Stephen (@stephensemler; stephen@securityreform.org)

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