GOP lawmakers knock White House’s use of reconciliation on $1 trillion defense request

The Donald Trump administration’s outline for a $1 trillion defense budget for fiscal 2026 received swift pushback from senior Republicans for the decision to include anticipated reconciliation funds to reach the record topline.

While the White House touted an “unprecedented” 13% boost in defense spending, the base defense budget, released on Friday, would remain flat from fiscal 2025 at around $893 billion and the $113 billion increase would come from funds in the pending reconciliation bill.

“These increases would be made possible through budget reconciliation, which would allow them to be enacted with simple majorities in the Congress, and not be held hostage by Democrats for wasteful nondefense spending increases as was the case in President Trump’s first term,” the White House said in an overview of its “skinny” budget proposal.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Armed Services Committee who has advocated for boosting defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product, said the $892.6 billion request for discretionary defense spending would amount to a “cut in real terms.” 

“I have said for months that reconciliation defense spending does not replace the need for real growth in the military’s base budget,” Wicker said. 

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the upper chamber’s top defense appropriator, criticized the decision to factor in the $113.3 billion. McConnell said “a one-time influx [of] reconciliation spending is not a substitute for full-year appropriations.”

“It’s a supplement. [Office of Management and Budget] accounting gimmicks may well convince administration officials and spokesmen that they’re doing enough to counter the growing, coordinated challenges we face from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and radical terrorists. But they won’t fool Congress,” McConnell said in a statement. 

OMB Director Russ Vought on Friday addressed the pushback on the accounting to reach the trillion dollar topline.

“The president wants to increase defense spending to $1 trillion, a 13% increase to keep our country secure. This budget provides that level while ensuring that only Republican-votes are needed by using reconciliation to secure those increases without Democrats insisting on increasing wasteful government,” Vought wrote in a social media post. 

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, also said he was “very concerned” with the flat base budget request, adding it “does not reflect a realistic path to building the military capability we need.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also has “serious objections” to the proposal and concern with the administration’s delay in outlining its funding priorities.

“This request has come to Congress late, and key details still remain outstanding.  Based on my initial review, however, I have serious objections to the proposed freeze in our defense funding given the security challenges we face…Ultimately, it is Congress that holds the power of the purse,” Collins said.

Trump said in early April his administration would request the first-ever trillion dollar defense topline, and the “skinny” budget released Friday includes plans to cut non-defense spending by $163 billion, or 22.6%. 

The House Armed Services Committee earlier this week voted to advance the $150 billion compromise proposal to boost defense spending as part of congressional Republicans’ planned reconciliation bill to pass Trump administration priorities, which covers four years of funding and includes $25 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense system, $33.7 billion for shipbuilding and increases for a wide swath of defense priorities. 

The White House’s budget outline assumes that $119.3 billion of the total $150 billion for defense in the reconciliation bill will be spent in fiscal ‘26, with $113.3 billion for the Pentagon topline boost and $6 billion for National Nuclear Security Administration defense-related activities.

While the skinny budget lacks spending details that will be outlined in the forthcoming full budget request, the White House noted the FY ‘26 defense budget “prioritizes investments to: strengthen the safety, security, and sovereignty of the homeland; deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific; and revitalize America’s defense industrial base.”

This article was first published in Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily.