House defense bill elevates cyber force, defying White House

The defense authorization bill that cleared the House May 18 would elevate the US military’s cyber unit to a standalone warfighting entity — despite direct opposition from the White House. The House passed the bill by a 277-147 margin. US Cyber Command is currently under the authority of Strategic Command, meaning it must obtain permission before it conducts cyber operations. But the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would make Cyber Command its own unified command unit.

The move is a nod to the increasing importance that cyber actions are playing in US defense operations — Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said recently that the US is “dropping cyber bombs” on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). It also had widespread support from lawmakers who were skeptical that the unit should remain under the roof of the National Security Agency (NSA), where it currently shares a commander with the spy agency. The White House, however, has pushed back against the move, arguing that the secretary of Defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “should retain the flexibility to recommend to the President changes to the unified command plan that they believe would most effectively organize the military to address an ever-evolving threat environment.”