Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., speaks March 5, 2025, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee is considering adding measures to its annual defense policy bill to prevent the Pentagon from using a proposed $150 billion in extra funding as a slush fund, the highest-ranking Democrat on the panel said Wednesday.
The committee’s Republican chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, has suggested putting constraints on the Defense Department if Congress passes a massive tax cut and spending bill aimed at implementing President Donald Trump’s agenda, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.
The legislation includes a $150 billion funding boost for the Pentagon in addition to its annual budget. The House Armed Services Committee advanced the measure last month, recommending the funds be spent on shipbuilding, a layered missile defense shield and other defense priorities.
But because the bill is being pushed through Congress using a process called reconciliation, the Defense Department can essentially use the money however it sees fit, Reed said.
“I think it’s an extraordinary mistake,” he told reporters at a Defense Writers Group event. “It surrenders congressional leverage and authority over the budget. Is it just a slush fund for the DOD to do what they want to do or is it something that we can say, ‘No, these are the priorities?’”
Wicker during a confirmation hearing on Tuesday asked three of the administration’s nominees for posts in the Defense Department to answer whether they would commit to follow spending recommendations from Congress.
All three, including the nominee for assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, answered “yes.”
Reed said the “arcane rules” of the reconciliation process have created a “very complicated situation” for lawmakers and they are trying to understand what power they will ultimately have over the proposed money.
One possible solution that the committee is considering is putting suggestions into the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual policy bill that sets priorities for the Pentagon, on how the military can spend the funds, Reed said.
But the senator said he doubted the military would abide by the recommendations and worried the reconciliation bill could be used to preempt congressional directives.
“I think by default and particularly by the aggressive and, one could say, lawless behavior of the administration, they’ll just consider the money their money and that could be very detrimental,” he said.
The House Armed Services Committee has laid out a detailed plan for how it wants the extra $150 billion to be used.
It includes $34 billion for growing the Navy’s fleet and expanding capacity at shipyards, $25 billion to develop a “Golden Dome” system that could defend the U.S. from ballistic missiles that travel at hypersonic speeds, and $20 billion to develop and acquire munitions.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., on Tuesday announced the formation of a Golden Dome Caucus in the Senate to help champion and oversee the project and cautioned that the system will likely ultimately cost trillions.
Reed said Wednesday that the comprehensive missile shield is conceptual at the moment and believes it will be more of a warning system than a firing system, though firing units will eventually be developed for it.
