Record $901 Billion Defense Bill Set to Transform U.S. Military Strategy

The annual U.S. defense policy bill authorizing $901 billion for national security excludes a bipartisan housing initiative but includes a 4% troop pay raise, $400 million for Ukraine, and cuts to diversity programs. Negotiations were polarized, with focus on border security and repeals of Iraq War authorizations.

U.S. lawmakers have introduced an unprecedented $901 billion defense bill earmarked for national security spending for the following year. The bill eclipses President Donald Trump's requested budget, allocating an additional $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. This colossal 3,000-page legislation features a 4% salary increase for enlisted personnel but omits a widely anticipated bipartisan housing initiative. Mike Johnson, House Speaker from Louisiana, asserted that this law advances Trump's goals by eradicating 'woke ideology' within the Pentagon, bolstering border security, rejuvenating the defense industrial framework, and reigniting traditional military values.

Negotiated as a middle ground between the National Defense Authorization Act versions passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and House, the bill reflects a budget higher than President Trump's initial $892.6 billion proposal for fiscal year 2026. Despite authorizing Pentagon and associated agency programs, Congress must still pass supplementary legislation to fund these provisions. The legislation narrows focus on military hardware acquisitions and competition with nations like China and Russia, while scrapping diversity initiatives condemned by Trump and expanding troop deployment to the southern U.S. border to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Additionally, it overturns Iraq War military force authorizations from 1991 and 2002.

Regarded as essential legislation, the NDAA is a historical tradition passed every year for over six decades. This year, partisan differences overshadowed the usual bipartisan negotiations. Democratic lawmakers initially intended to contest the bill over Trump's domestic military deployment practices, a dispute only allayed once Republican Senator Roger Wicker agreed to address the issue through a congressional hearing. Earlier, the GOP had thwarted Democratic efforts to halt military deployment within cities and reject an extravagant aircraft offer from Qatar designated as Air Force One.