A key House committee has endorsed without change the Army’s request for modest troop cuts in the Regular Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve.

Defensewide, the House Appropriations Committee approved a reduction of 1,975 active-duty troops that includes a 900 reduction for the Army. The Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force are taking bigger cuts than the Army in active forces.

The panel also makes a 2,500-person reduction in the reserve component, which includes a 300-soldier decrease in the Army Reserve and a 500-soldier cut in the Army National Guard. 

The committee passed the appropriation July 13 with a vote of 33-23.

In its 2022 defense funding bill, the panel trims about $272 million from the $54.6 billion Army request for operations and maintenance funds.

On procurement programs, lawmakers tweaked the Army request with a $408 million increase in funding for Army aircraft procurement, a $59.6 million reduction in missile procurement, a $64 million reduction for weapons and tracked combat vehicles, but a $85.8 million increase for ammunition.

On wheeled vehicles, the committee says it wants to see a long-term development strategy for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which will be in the Army inventory for the next two decades. 

Lawmakers boosted the Army’s budget for research and development by $581.7 million, to a recommended total of $13.4 billion. Allied research would get an extra $236 million, and basic research would increase by $62 million under the committee’s plan.