Pentagon Press Conference Underway Shortly

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder is shortly due to deliver a press conference from the Department of Defence.

• Livestream: https://www.defense.gov/News/Live-Events/
• Comes as Congressional negotiators close in on a compromise on defence spending which will reportedly call for a USD$45 billion increase on spending requested by President Biden in his budget.
• According to Politico, the topline spending number for the National Defence Authorisation Act could go as high as USD$858 billion and, “Democrats and Republicans in both chambers backed large increases on the premise of addressing high inflation and keeping pace with China.”
• House leadership aims to have an NDAA text ready for consideration in the House next week. Final approval of the bill will require a spending boost enabled by passage of a FY23 omnibus. The current government funding stopgap expires on December 16 and Congressional appropriators have yet to announce an agreement on topline spending.
• If a FY23 budget isn’t hammered out by the end of the year, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin warns that the Department of Defence will take a significant hit in real term spending.