The House Armed Services Committee passed its version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) at midnight Thursday after debating around 900 amendments all day Thursday, several of which pertained to nuclear issues.
The defense policy bill, which also sets spending caps for the appropriations bills, would authorize $32.76 billion in funding for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
An en bloc of amendments by the Strategic Forces subcommittee, which passed by voice vote, included the following nuclear-related amendments:
- An amendment by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), whose district abuts the Pantex Plant, called for a briefing by the Administrator of Nuclear Security on opportunities to enhance NNSA’s Office of Secure Transportation for nuclear sustainment and modernization efforts.
- Another amendment by Jackson calling on NNSA’s administrator to brief the House Armed Services Committee on NNSA’s plan to modernize both warhead assembly and disassembly due to committee concerns “that the NNSA has not updated its facilities at the Pantex Plant to keep pace with this increasing demand.” The briefing would include a ten-year forecast of future mission demand impacting Pantex operations, plans to increase capacity at Pantex, analysis of alternative processes and a list of risks and limiting factors at the plant.
- A third amendment by Jackson calling for the Secretary of Defense to identify Pentagon resources “surrounding existing arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament agreements.”
- An amendment by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), whose district abuts Savannah River Site, called for the Administrator for Nuclear Security to brief the House Armed Services Committee on NNSA’s beryllium manufacturing capabilities, a material used in both civilian nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.
- An amendment by subcommittee chairman Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) calling for a briefing on the Lithium Processing Facility located at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The briefing would include an updated cost and schedule estimate for the facility, any alternative strategies for acquisition or potential offsite options, and assessment of the remaining lifespan of Building 9204-2.
- An amendment by subcommittee ranking member Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) directed the NNSA administrator to brief the full committee on the “NNSA workforce required to successfully execute the mission of the NNSA, to include increased requirements across weapon development and infrastructure modernization.”
Chairman Mike Rogers’s (R-Ala.) first chairman’s amendment en bloc, which passed by voice vote, included an amendment by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) to increase funding for B-52 Agile Pod Advanced Sensor Fusion Software Development, under Nuclear Enterprise Research & Development, by $25 million.
Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) also had an amendment in Rogers’s second chairman’s en bloc of amendments, which also passed by voice vote, calling for a report on the impact of U.S. military operations, particularly Operation Epic Fury, on Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities by Feb. 1, 2027. The report would include the impact to Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile, the ability to determine the location of the uranium, and the amount of time Iran needs to build a nuclear weapon.
Rep. Pat Harrigan’s (R-N.C.) amendment passed by voice vote that would call on the secretary of defense to conduct a program for deployment, operation and evaluation of a transportable nuclear microreactor in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Additionally, DesJarlais spoke against an amendment by Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.) that would divert funding away from the nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) toward the National Guard’s counter drug program. Notably, the White House budget did not include funding for SLCM-N for fiscal 2027, an action NNSA administrator Brandon Williams said was due to sufficient reconciliation funding and the agency would seek funding in fiscal 2028. Cisneros’s amendment did not pass.
In terms of other amendments that did not make it through, Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) pressed House Armed Services Committee members to take a broader look at U.S. nuclear modernization plans during debate on a trio of amendments he typically introduces each year, arguing that Congress continues to make costly nuclear policy decisions without sufficient analysis. All three were struck down.
Garamendi’s first amendment would have repealed a statutory requirement to maintain 400 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), instead directing the Pentagon to assess alternative force structures and justify future requirements. Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) said the proposal would not eliminate any missiles but would require the Defense Department to provide the analysis underlying force-sizing decisions, while opponents like DesJarlais argued that maintaining the current ICBM force remains necessary amid growing nuclear threats from Russia and China.
A second amendment focused on plutonium pit production, requiring detailed cost and schedule estimates for multiple production-rate scenarios and an assessment of whether existing pits could be reused or refurbished. Garamendi questioned the rationale behind the current requirement to produce 180 pits annually and warned that expanding production capacity at facilities such as Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Savannah River Site could cost more than $27 billion without understanding future needs. DesJarlais countered that the 180-pit requirement reflects Defense Department assessments of future warhead modernization needs and is essential to restoring a capability the United States has lacked for decades.
Garamendi’s third amendment sought a broader review of the nation’s nuclear modernization trajectory, directing the Defense Department to evaluate how programs such as the Sentinel ICBM, Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, hypersonic weapons and the proposed Golden Dome missile-defense architecture fit into the overall strategic environment following the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, commonly known as New START. Garamendi argued that Congress has never conducted a comprehensive review of the cumulative costs, risks and strategic implications of these efforts.
Reps. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and James Moylan (D-Guam) withdrew amendments dealing with nuclear testing and the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, respectively.