Senate clears fiscal 2026 NDAA

Caroline Coudriet, CQ-Roll Call on Dec 17, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday easily cleared the fiscal 2026 defense authorization, readying the mammoth $900.6 billion measure for a presidential signature.

The final vote on the House-Senate compromise was 77-20. The almost 3,100-page bill calls for spending $8 billion more than the $892.6 billion that President Donald Trump requested and an earlier House-passed bill endorsed.

The House passed the compromise measure on Dec. 10. If Trump signs it, as he is expected to, the NDAA will become law for the 65th consecutive year.

“This NDAA helps us align the priorities of the U.S. military with the threats of today — and they are serious,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, during floor remarks Wednesday, citing “serious threats from the People’s Republic of China and the entire axis of aggressors that it leads and partners with.”

The measure includes a 3.8% pay raise for military personnel, endorses the bulk of the Pentagon’s weapons priorities and would overhaul Defense Department acquisition processes.

It also includes language aimed at restricting U.S. exports of critical technologies to China and limiting Defense Department use of end products or supplies and components sourced from China.

In recent days, some senators have criticized the inclusion of a provision that would change rules regarding military training flights near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The language is a response to the collision nearly a year ago near Reagan National airport between a passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter that resulted in 67 deaths.

But a bipartisan chorus of critics — and the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board — says the provision falls short of what’s required to ensure flight safety around the airport.

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. — the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee — say the NDAA provision would jeopardize flight safety.

Other lawmakers griped about the legislation’s omission — for the second straight year — of a provision to require the Pentagon’s TRICARE health insurance program to cover fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization, for active-duty troops and their dependents.

That provision was removed by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., after it had been included in the versions passed by the House and Senate and approved during the informal conference of Armed Services leaders writing the compromise measure.