§239e Nuclear command, control, and communications: major force program and budget assessment

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must create one unified major force program for nuclear command, control, and communications to set priorities that meet Defense and national security needs. For each of fiscal years 2025 through 2030, the Secretary must include a report on those programs with the defense budget materials submitted to Congress. Each report must give an overview that compares the current budget to the previous budget, to the most recent and prior future-years defense program submitted under section 221 (excluding research and development for ongoing improvements), and to amounts actually appropriated the year before. The report must show the funding as a specific budget line item, assess major changes, priorities, challenges, and risks, and may include any other matters the Secretary finds appropriate. Reports must be unclassified but may have a classified annex. Definitions: “budget” means the President’s budget submitted under 31 U.S.C. 1105(a); “defense budget materials” means the materials the Secretary provides to support that budget; and “nuclear command, control, and communications programs” means the programs that carry out presidential authority and operational command and control of nuclear weapons, including those that help top leaders decide about using nuclear weapons.