Funding is there for updating warheads

Some Republicans in the House of Representatives have been at odds with each other over this pledge. But the bottom line is that nuclear weapon upgrades and maintenance are being funded.

When we last updated this pledge, the House had passed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act that made  implementation of the new START Treaty between the U.S. and Russia contingent on the Obama administration achieving a certain level of nuclear spending. In addition, the bill prohibited the president from unilaterally lowering the number of deployed warheads below the START Treaty cap without first receiving congressional approval.

But the Senate version of the defense bill omitted those restrictions, and that's the version that prevailed for fiscal year 2012.

"They came to a compromise that was a significantly watered down version of what was in the House (bill),” said Kingston Reif, director of nuclear nonproliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. That group works to reduce the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and favors optimizing nuclear weapons policy and spending to meet the threats of the 21st century.

The final language of the defense bill included requirements for "assessments” of the weapons stock, but no concrete limitation on implementing the treaty.

Now the same basic fight is being waged over the 2013 defense authorization bill. In the House version, the same provisions are included tying the treaty to weapons funding. On this front, the battle is with the White House. Reif explained that Obama has requested large increases each year for the Department of Energy program, which is tasked with maintaining and refurbishing nuclear warheads and their supporting infrastructure through its National Nuclear Security Administration. For 2013, the White House requested $7.58 billion. Some House Republicans say that's not enough, so they inserted more money (an additional $320 million) into the defense bill and tied it to the START treaty.

That bill passed the House on May 18, 2012. But again, the Senate bill excludes provisions that would limit New START implementation. (The full Senate has not voted on that legislation.)

"It's headed for the same outcome,” Reif said. "The Senate doesn't support this.”

And yet, for all the infighting, nuclear weapons upgrades are being funded -- just through different means.

Last year the Obama administration, for Fiscal Year 2012, requested $7.6 billion for weapons upgrade activity. Republicans on the House appropriations committee actually cut that amount, though Reif argues they still allocated "more than enough to get the job done.”

"There's clearly a disagreement between the appropriators and the authorizers, who in effect, are not operating under the same budget constraints,” Reif said.

As broader budget battles plod on, leaders have agreed to a continuing resolution (a kind of stop-gap measure to keep the government operating). Under that agreement, the National Nuclear Security Administration will be funded at the 2013 request level, Reif said, or about $7.58 billion.

Despite these complications, the goal of this pledge is being met, and billions of dollars are being spent to maintain and modernize the nation's nuclear weapons complex. We rate this a Promise Kept.