President Obama signed into law H.R. 3979, the Fiscal 2015 defense authorization bill, announced the White House. The legislation authorizes $585 billion for the Defense Department and the Energy Department’s national security programs in this fiscal year, which runs through Sept. 30, 2015. This includes $495.9 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, $63.7 billion for overseas contingency operations, and $17.5 billion for DOE’s nuclear weapons and defense activities. Obama signed the bill into law on Dec. 19, one week after the Senate passed it, and some two weeks after the House approved it. On Dec. 16, Obama signed into law the $1.1 trillion spending bill that includes some $554 billion for DOD in Fiscal 2015.
U.S. munitions have been expended at a high rate during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, prompting concerns that the Pentagon is eating into weapons stockpiles it needs to deter threats around the world. Yet the newly released $1.5 trillion defense budget request was developed before the war against Iran and…