National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 - H.R.2500 / S.1790

This year's National Defense Authorization Act includes numerous provisions bearing on science and technology policy, including ones establishing a Space Force, creating a Climate Security Advisory Council, and directing the Defense Department’s research security efforts.

The House and Senate have completed work on their respective versions of the annual legislation that updates U.S. defense policy. The bills include numerous proposals related to DOD’s research laboratories, innovation policy, nuclear weapons, research security, and climate change, among other areas.

Mounting efforts by U.S. lawmakers and agencies to prevent federally funded research from being exploited by foreign governments have elicited increasing pushback from university leaders.

Lawmakers are pushing the Defense Department to consider projections of climate change and extreme weather impacts in its facility planning decisions, contrasting the Trump administration’s efforts to cast doubt on expected risks.  

A new Government Accountability Office report examines the extent to which defense laboratories have leveraged special administrative authorities designed to enhance their ability to innovate and it details impediments the labs have encountered.

The latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act contains numerous provisions that aim to enhance innovation in defense technologies and combat foreign efforts to exploit U.S. R&D. It postpones a proposal to reform the relationship between the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy.