Congress passing $350 billion in reconciliation funds to support the Donald Trump administration’s potential $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 defense topline is “going to have its challenges,” a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) said.
“I want to make sure that we get through that. I want to make sure that members know the importance of getting that done and make sure we have the commitment to be able to finish that. I’m not going to underestimate how challenging it’s going to be, but I think it is attainable,” Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the HASC vice chair, told Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily following remarks at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference in National Harbor, Md.
“I think when people know what we have to do, what we have to fund, what’s in the budget request, I think, to me, that in and of itself, is a pretty compelling argument for it. You can argue about which process is the best, but it’s hard to argue with what the need is for this nation and what we have to be able to build in order to deter the Chinese,” Wittman added.
During a panel discussion with HASC members at the conference on Wednesday, Reps. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) and Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) also offered support for the planned spending boost while questioning the use of reconciliation funds to achieve the increase.
“The budget numbers that are being floated around…are going the right way. And we’ll leave it at that. But I will say, reconciliation is not the way to do it,” Norcross said “On an extraordinary occasion, we used it during the pandemic. We used it last year [for defense spending]. But using reconciliation as a method to get to the [topline] number is not the way to do it,” Norcross said, adding the move may lead to Congress “seceding…the power of the purse.”
“We have oversight. We need to have that ability. And the way to do it is not through reconciliation. Let’s move that number over to the regular budget process so the money that we, as folks that write the checks, so to speak, are making sure the money is going there,” Norcross said.
Jackson said he agreed with Norcross’ view and called for having the spending increase added “upfront instead of in reconciliation.”
The Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion fiscal ‘27 defense request is split between $1.15 trillion in discretionary spending and $350 billion it will seek through a reconciliation bill. The massive defense spending boost represents a 42 percent increase from the fiscal ‘26 enacted level of just over $1 trillion when accounting for both the final defense appropriations legislation and the $150 billion in reconciliation funds included for defense in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“I know [on the] Armed Services Committee, we are all in agreement of prioritizing funding for national security. So I think you’ll see support for this increase in defense spending,” Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) said on the panel.
The reconciliation process to support another defense spending boost would allow Republicans to again pass billions of dollars in Trump administration spending priorities without requiring votes from Democrats to meet the 60 vote threshold in the Senate to break the filibuster.
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily first published a version of this story.