Senate committee votes to boost U.S.-Israel counter-drone funding, holds counter-tunnel funding flat
The Senate Appropriations Committee matched the House’s proposal on anti-drone technology but failed to match the House’s more than $30 million increase to the tunneling program
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The United States Senator Susan Collins questions FBI Director Christopher Wray during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the FBI's proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 4, 2024, in Washington, DC.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted on Thursday for a bill boosting funding for cooperative U.S.-Israel counter-drone programs, while holding flat funding for a counter-tunnel program.
The 2025 Defense Appropriations bill includes $55 million for the counter-drone development program, which includes directed energy systems, a $15 million increase over 2025 and in line with the House’s proposal on the program.
But it held funding for the counter-tunneling program at 2024 levels, $47.5 million, coming in well below the $80 million funding proposal from the House.
Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced separate legislation earlier this year that proposed boosting funding for the program to $80 million as well.
The bill also includes $47.5 million for a cooperative program in emerging defense technologies, according to a summary released by committee Republicans.
In addition to those programs, the bill includes $500 million, as anticipated under the U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding, for cooperative air- and missile-defense programs like Iron Dome.
During a committee meeting on Thursday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, emphasized that the committee had provided around $1 billion more than the administration had requested for missile-defense programs, including for systems used to counter Iranian attacks on April 13 and other instances.
The bill also provides $800 million more than the administration requested for troops in harm’s way and U.S. operations in the Middle East, according to Republicans’ summary document.
Overall, the proposed bill is 2.3% higher than the administration’s requested defense budget.