In an era of bipartisan agreement on austerity cuts to vital services and workers' benefits, military-industrial-complex spending will continue into the new year untouched.

President Barack Obama signed into law on Thursday the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2014 that allots $526.8 billion for the Pentagon's budget and $80 billion for the war in Afghanistan—totaling nearly $607 billion in defense-related spending.

This is nearly $30 billion more than was agreed to in the bipartisan federal budget deal that was also signed by Obama on Thursday.