§499c Portfolio Management Framework for Nuclear Forces

Summary

By January 1, 2024, the Secretary of Defense must set up a portfolio management framework for U.S. nuclear forces and finish a study of what skills and tools are needed to manage risk. The framework must say which nuclear forces it covers, create a governance setup (using or like an existing body such as the Deputy’s Management Action Group in DoD Directive 5105.79), explain how the Secretary will find, manage, and set priorities for risks (including how the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment will work with the Administrator for Nuclear Security through the Nuclear Weapons Council), and include the findings from the January 2022 GAO report GAO–22–104061. The assessment must look at how to use public and private resources and the program management help available at the Defense Acquisition University. When the President’s budget is sent to Congress for fiscal year 2025 and each year after until the rules end, the Secretary must brief the congressional defense committees on the requirements used, the main risks found, and actions proposed or taken to reduce those risks. Those briefings may be classified. If a House bill, in the Secretary’s view, would cause a significant delay in nuclear certification or delivery, the Secretary must tell the defense committees. These rules stop 90 days after the Secretary certifies that the LGM–35A Sentinel ICBM, the Columbia‑class ballistic missile submarine program, the long‑range standoff weapon program, the B–21 Raider bomber program, and the F‑35A dual‑capable aircraft program have each reached full operational capability. "Nuclear forces" here includes at least: nuclear weapons; the delivery platforms and systems for them; nuclear command, control, and communications systems; and the Defense and NNSA facilities and infrastructure that support all of the above, including people, construction, operation, and maintenance.