The House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday released a draft of the base defense budget for fiscal year 2027, outlining key parts of the roughly $1.5 trillion in defense spending that President Trump is seeking for the military.
The so-called chairman’s mark of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2027 would authorize $1.15 trillion in spending in the base budget, with $1.1 trillion going to the Pentagon and $41 billion to the Department of Energy to support the nuclear weapons program. Republican lawmakers plan to provide another $350 billion in defense spending through a reconciliation bill that they hope can pass the Senate with a simple majority, bypassing the need to secure Democratic votes.
The committee plans to mark up the draft bill on June 4.
What’s in the bill: Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and Republicans on the panel say the theme of the 2027 budget is “rebuilding the arsenal of democracy,” according to an outline of the bill. They say the bill addresses concerns that the United States has underinvested in its defense industrial base and lost the capacity to produce armaments rapidly and at scale.
Among other things, the bill would authorize multiyear acquisitions of major weapons systems, including F-15EX and F-35 fighter jets, naval destroyers and amphibious ships, with the goal of stabilizing production plans for military contractors.
The bill contains other provisions aimed at shoring up the defense industrial base, including money for workforce development and some streamlining of financial regulations to make it easier for small businesses to become suppliers.
Military personnel would receive pay raises ranging from 5% to 7%, depending on rank. And the services themselves would grow in size, with the Navy adding 13,000 servicemembers, the Army 15,000, the Air Force 8,900, the Space Force 2,800 and the Marine Corps 1,400.
Pushing back on Trump: The bill would authorize $1 billion for development of the “Trump class” of battleships, but it blocks the construction of the first ship until the military certifies that the required technologies are ready to go, something experts have warned could take many years.
Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system also receives funding, but just $400 million, far short of the $17.5 billion the White House requested. More funding for that program may be included in the reconciliation bill.
Lawmakers are also making it clear that they have concerns about Trump’s threats to withdraw troops from Europe amid his ongoing feud with NATO. The bill reminds the president that there is a requirement to inform Congress of planned troop withdrawals at least 60 days beforehand and extends a ban on removing troops from Europe and South Korea.
Trump’s effort to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War also gets some pushback. The bill does not use the new name and makes no mention of making the change, which would require an act of Congress.