H.R. 2646 would extend through 2022 the President’s authority to expedite military sales to Jordan and to waive or reduce certain surcharges on military sales from Department of Defense stocks. Under current law, that authority expires in February 2019. The bill also would authorize the President to establish an enterprise fund for Jordan.
The surcharges that would be affected represent a portion of the costs of research and development for the purchased items and are deposited into the Special Defense Acquisition Fund, a revolving fund subject to appropriation action that is used to procure, store, and sell defense items that are in high demand. Waiving or reducing those surcharges would reduce the collections that are deposited into the fund and later spent without further appropriation action. The lag between the lost collections and lower spending would result in small net costs in the first several years. The Administration indicated that this authority has not yet been used, but on the basis of information from the Administration, CBO estimates that implementing that provision would cost less than $500,000 over the 2018-2022 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
