The American Congress definitively adopted on Thursday a staggering budget of $886 billion for the defense of the United States in 2024, extending an international electronic surveillance system widely used by American intelligence.
Adopted in the House of Representatives after a vote in the Senate on Wednesday, this budget, up about 3% compared to that of 2023, notably provides several billion dollars to “strengthen the position” of the United States in the Asia-Pacific and counter China’s influence.
The document also extends a military aid program to Ukraine, allowing the gradual release of $300 million for kyiv. This amount is a far cry from the $61 billion requested by the American and Ukrainian presidents from Congress by the end of the year, this gigantic envelope still being debated.
The major defense law passed on Thursday also extends by several months a legislative system for international electronic surveillance, widely criticized by organizations defending privacy and freedoms, and which was about to expire.
This program allows US security services to conduct electronic surveillance programs – including through email viewing – of non-US nationals abroad, without seeking a systematic judicial warrant.
A senior White House official pleaded Sunday for its extension, saying that “with what is happening in Israel, with what is happening in Ukraine, with the threat posed by China, with what is happening to our infrastructure strategic, with cyberattacks, it would be a very bad time to unilaterally disarm.”
The budget adopted by Congress also increases the salaries of defense personnel by more than 5%.
Measures planned by the Republicans, which would have restricted access to abortion for the military and prohibited the Pentagon from flying the LGBT+ pride flag on its bases, were not adopted.
The document of more than 3,000 pages must now be ratified by Joe Biden, a formality.