The Senate and House combined both versions of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into a version that would authorize $25.96 billion in funding for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
That is the highest authorization limit yet for the agency in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, and $100 million more than the Senate would have authorized based on its earlier version. It is also $700 million more than what the White House sought in its 2026 budget request. It is also about $500 million more than what the House would initially authorize.
The annual NDAA, which is not an appropriations bill, sets policy and spending limits for defense agencies, including the NNSA, which is part of DOE. The House Rules Committee will look at the conferenced text on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.
The conference bill also would authorize just over $21 billion for weapons activities, a little under $1 billion more than the White House sought. It is about $800 million less than the Senate would have authorized and $500 million more than the House would have authorized.
Defense nuclear nonproliferation, a controversial spending topic among House Democrats specifically in the appropriations bills, would be set at $2.2 billion, same as the White House and House would authorize and about half a billion less than the Senate would have authorized.
The bill also said the funds in it could not be used to establish a “cap on reimbursement of compensation and benefits for non-Federal employees” either under contract with NNSA, working on nuclear weapons delivery systems at DOD, or working on Golden Dome infrastructure.
In terms of policy, the conferenced bill would direct the Air Force Secretary and Undersecretary to submit a strategy to the relevant congressional committees “to address aging components and maximize the end-of-life margin” of the ground-based Minuteman III LGM-30G intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which would be replaced eventually by the Sentinel LGM-35A ICBM.
Last week, Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said Sentinel would be part of Golden Dome and “moving.” The bill itself said missile defense policy would reflect “Golden Dome for America” policy, and that developing Golden Dome strategy should include “a holistic assessment of the total ground segment requirements to support the architecture” of Golden Dome.