S. 1790, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020

The Congressional Budget Office has completed the enclosed cost estimate of the statutory pay-as-you-go effects for S. 1790, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, as posted on the website of the House Committee on Rules on December 9, 2019. Enacting S. 1790 would increase direct spending by $5.6 billion over the 2020-2029 period, CBO estimates. It also would decrease on-budget revenues by $8 million over the same period. In total, enacting S. 1790 would increase the deficit by $5.6 billion.

Those budgetary effects primarily arise from three sources. Section 622 would increase the annuities that spouses of deceased military retirees receive under the Survivor Benefit Plan. That provision would increase direct spending by $4.7 billion. Section 1219 would increase by 4,000 the number of special immigrant visas available to Afghans who worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan. That provision would increase direct spending by nearly $0.5 billion. Section 731 would allow individuals to file claims against the U.S. government for damages relating to the personal injury or death of a member of the U.S. Armed Forces arising from medical malpractice that occurs in military treatment facilities. That provision would cost about $0.3 billion, CBO estimates. Several other provisions would have smaller effects on direct spending and revenues.