Lawmakers on Sunday released the 3,086-page text of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, the annual policy bill for the Department of Defense and related national security activities.
The NDAA would authorize defense spending of $900.6 billion in fiscal year 2026, about $8 billion more than the Pentagon sought in the White House budget request earlier this year. The budget topline number is a compromise between the House version of the bill, which followed the Pentagon’s request, and the Senate’s version, which increased the request by $32 billion.
The bill includes $291 billion for operations and maintenance; $234 billion for military personnel and healthcare; $162 billion for procurement; $146 billion for research and testing; $34 billion for nuclear programs; and $20 billion for construction and housing. Enlisted service members would receive a 3.8% pay raise.
The legislation would codify 15 of President Trump’s executive orders, touching on issues including border security, space-based defense and weapons development. Projects described by Trump as key priorities that would receive funding include the “Golden Dome” missile defense program, the Air Force’s F-47 and Navy’s F/A-XX next-generation fighters, and the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, as well as numerous ships and ground vehicles. The bill would also fund efforts to boost the nation’s industrial base.
According to a summary provided by the House Armed Services Committee, the NDAA provides $20 billion in savings through reductions in the Pentagon bureaucracy, cuts to climate-change-related spending, the elimination of DEI-related activities, the retirement of obsolete equipment and cutbacks in consulting contracts.
The bill “roots out Biden-era wokeism in our military and restores merit-based promotions and admissions to service academies, prohibits contracts with partisan firms, counters antisemitism, and halts harmful, unnecessary programs like [critical race theory], DEI, and climate initiatives,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement.
The 2026 NDAA does not, however, codify Trump’s preferred name for the Department of Defense, which the White House now refers to as the Department of War. And it pressures the Pentagon to turn over video of controversial strikes against purported drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean by withholding a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the videos are shared with Congress.
The House could vote on the bill as soon as this week.