The House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee passed by voice vote its version of a bill that would give $27 billion to the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for fiscal 2027.
That number is $1.67 billion more than was enacted for the agency in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile in fiscal 2026. However, it is also almost $6 billion less than the Donald Trump administration requested for NNSA for fiscal 2027.
Of note, $50.36 billion was requested for DOE, which is $456 million below fiscal 2026 enacted levels.
“This legislation builds on the successes of prior years by continuing the modernization of our nation’s nuclear deterrent, pushing the frontiers of science and technology, unleashing more abundant and reliable energy to power our communities, and improving the coastal and inland waterways that connect our nation and link us to the global economy,” Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), chair of the subcommittee, said in a statement Thursday when the bill was released.
The subcommittee requested $22.07 billion for weapons activities, around $1.6 billion more than fiscal 2026 enacted levels but $5.4 billion less than what the White House requested. Fleishmann and Appropriations Committee chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) also said at Friday’s markup the bill includes support for the Genesis Mission.
For defense nuclear nonproliferation, the subcommittee requested $2.08 billion, around $300 million less than both fiscal 2026 enacted levels and White House fiscal 2027 requested levels. Subcommittee Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) criticized this line item in particular in her own statement.
“While President Trump continues to pursue a deadly, unpopular war with Iran and inflame tensions with our adversaries, House Republicans’ bill would leave our country more vulnerable to nuclear threats and yield American leadership of the world’s energy future to China,” Kaptur said. She added that she felt the bill “[w]eakens national security and leaves Americans more vulnerable to nuclear threats” by cutting defense nuclear nonproliferation by 12%.