The compromise National Defense Authorization Act, agreed to after weeks of negotiations between the House and Senate, recommends a defense budget that is $8 billion above the administration’s request and reflects bipartisan concerns about shrinking the military’s presence in Europe. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — A defense policy bill set for a vote in the House this week authorizes $901 billion in national security spending next year, including a 3.8% pay raise for troops and $400 million in military assistance to Ukraine that the Trump administration had sought to eliminate.
The compromise National Defense Authorization Act, agreed to after weeks of negotiations between the House and Senate, recommends a defense budget that is $8 billion above the administration’s request and reflects bipartisan concerns about shrinking the military’s presence in Europe.
The legislation forces the Pentagon to meet an extensive list of requirements before it can cut troop numbers on the Continent or relinquish U.S. leadership of NATO’s top military job, known as Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Similar limitations are in place for reducing the military’s footprint in South Korea.
The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees reacted with alarm this year when the Trump administration decided to discontinue a rotational U.S. Army brigade to Romania, saying the move threatened to undermine deterrence against Russia.
Lawmakers drafting the bill also pushed for the continuation of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative even though the administration had omitted the long-running program from its budget request. The bill authorizes $400 million for the initiative for each of the next two years.
Congress will need to fund the authorizations through separate defense spending legislation that has yet to pass.
Top Republicans and Democrats on the Armed Services Committees on Monday highlighted the policy bill’s focus on improving the weapons acquisition process and said a slew of reforms will help the Pentagon get modern capabilities into the hands of troops on time and on budget.
“We urge our colleagues to pass the FY26 NDAA quickly so these vital reforms can begin delivering results for our men and women in uniform,” the lawmakers said in a statement.
Several provisions are aimed at improving the lives of service members, including authorizing a 3.8% pay raise and allocating $1.5 billion for the construction of barracks and family housing, $491 million to build new child care centers and $206 million to build new schools.
The legislation also advances Republican priorities by eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion activities at the Pentagon, cutting more than $1 billion in climate change-related spending and permanently prohibiting men from playing on women’s sports teams at the military academies.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the bill “roots out Biden-era wokeism in our military” and codifies 15 of President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
It notably does not include any language renaming the Department of Defense as the “Department of War.” Trump signed an executive order in September designating the Department of War as a secondary title, but any official name change must be approved by Congress.
The legislation, however, allows the recent restoration of Army base names that had originally honored Confederates to stand. The House and Senate’s versions of the bill had sought to reverse Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision this year to revert to the original names but change the namesakes.
For a second year, the bill also left out a provision that would have provided Tricare coverage of in-vitro fertilization and other fertility services for service members and their families. The measure was included in the House and Senate bills before being dropped by House leadership.
Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., sharply criticized Johnson for the omission, calling it an “unbelievably selfish and callous move against people who’ve served and sacrificed so much for us, especially when he and his own staff have access to health care plans that provide IVF coverage.”
Lawmakers from both parties are expected to find more common ground on an effort within the bill to reclaim congressional war powers by repealing two laws that had authorized military force in 1991 for the Gulf War and in 2002 for the Iraq War. Critics had warned the laws could be abused by a president.
A House Republican leadership aide speaking on condition of anonymity said the Trump administration is confident the president can carry out his duties as commander-in-chief without the authorizations. Trump had used the 2002 authorization to partly justify a 2020 strike on Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
Lawmakers are also seeking to assert their oversight authority by forcing the Pentagon to turn over unedited videos of strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean. A provision calls for 25% of Hegseth’s travel budget to be withheld until the Pentagon provides the videos to the Armed Services Committees.
The military has killed more than 80 people in the strikes, including in a controversial Sept. 2 double-tap attack that killed two survivors. The follow-up strike has drawn congressional scrutiny and led to multiple classified briefings on Capitol Hill last week.
The House Rules Committee is set to take up the defense policy bill on Tuesday afternoon before sending it to the floor for a vote.
