United States Senate Committee on Armed Services

Senate Armed Services Committee
Standing committee
Active

United States Senate
118th Congress
History
FormedJanuary 2, 1947
Leadership
ChairJack Reed (D)
Since February 3, 2021
Ranking memberRoger Wicker (R)
Since January 3, 2023
Structure
Seats25 members
Political partiesMajority (13)
  •   Democratic (12)
  •   Independent (1)
Minority (12)
Jurisdiction
Policy areasDefense policy, military operations
Oversight authorityDepartment of Defense, Armed Forces
House counterpartHouse Armed Services Committee
Website
www.armed-services.senate.gov
Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Warner (R-VA) listen to Admiral Mike Mullen's confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in July 2007; the Armed Services Committee is charged with overseeing the U.S. Senate's confirmation hearings for senior U.S. military.
Armed Services Committee senators Joe Lieberman, Carl Levin (chair), and John McCain listen to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus deliver his opening remarks for the fiscal year 2010 budget request in June 2009.
The committee's Don't Ask, Don't Tell hearing on December 2, 2010; U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates greets Ranking member, John McCain.
The Committee on Armed Services' hearing on sexual assault in the military on June 4, 2013

The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy (as pertaining to national security), benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and other matters related to defense policy. The Armed Services Committee was created as a result of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 following the U.S. victory in World War II. The bill merged the responsibilities of the Committee on Naval Affairs, established in 1816, and the Committee on Military Affairs, also established in 1816.

Considered one of the most powerful Senate committees, its broad mandate allowed it to report some of the most extensive and revolutionary legislation during the Cold War years, including the National Security Act of 1947. The committee tends to take a more bipartisan approach than other committees, as many of its members formerly served in the military or have major defense interests located in the states they come from.[1] The committee's regular legislative product is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which has been passed by Congress and signed into law annually since 1962.[2]

The current chair is Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and the Ranking Member is Republican Roger Wicker of Mississippi (2023).

  1. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer. "With Chairmanship, McCain Seizes Chance to Reshape Pentagon Agenda", The New York Times (June 9, 2015). Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  2. ^ "History of the NDAA". February 3, 2017.