The Armed Services Committees

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees were created by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, which merged the older Military Affairs and Naval Affairs committees in each chamber, a year before the National Security Act unified the military departments. They have jurisdiction over the Department of Defense, the military services, the nuclear weapons programs of the Department of Energy, military personnel and benefits, and defense policy generally.

Their main product is the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and authorizes funding levels for the military each year. Congress has enacted an NDAA every year for more than six decades, making it one of the few major bills reliably passed, and it often carries provisions on topics well beyond defense. The Senate committee also processes the nominations of civilian defense officials and the tens of thousands of military promotions the Senate confirms each year, giving individual senators leverage through holds.

The committees have traditionally been among the more bipartisan in Congress, though fights over social policy in the military, war powers, and spending levels have grown sharper. Actual defense spending is set separately by the Appropriations Committees. In the 119th Congress the Senate committee is led by Roger Wicker, with Jack Reed as ranking member, and the House committee by Mike Rogers, with Adam Smith as ranking member.