Senate Armed Services committee chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) released legislative text to the House-passed reconciliation bill Tuesday that would seek $96 million for classified nuclear deterrence programs.
The $96 million is a $74 million increase from the House of Representatives version of the bill, passed in May with a razor-thin majority. It is part of a section that includes $15 billion for nuclear deterrence as a whole. This includes accelerated modernization of the triad and investments into nuclear weapons manufacturing.
The Senate GOP has revealed its defense portion of the reconciliation bill with some slight adjustments from the $150 billion version the House passed. The bill made changes to appropriations for the National Nuclear Security Administration, including a $20 million increase to domestic uranium enrichment centrifuge deployment, a $10 million increase to spent fuel reprocessing technologies, and a $115 million increase to accelerate national security missions through artificial intelligence. It also adds $5 million to funding for accelerating small modular reactors for military use.
The bill also includes a $5.7 billion reduction in shipbuilding but includes $4.6 billion to fund an additional Virginia-class attack submarine, while specifying the purchase should now be made in fiscal 2026.
Unchanged from the House version is $2 billion to accelerate development, procurement and integration of the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile, as well as $65 million for nuclear command, control and communications.
“This bill is a landmark down payment toward the modernization of our military and our defense capabilities,” Wicker said in a press release.
Chair of the House Armed Services committee Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) added, “Now that the Senate will soon take up the One Big, Beautiful Bill, I’m eager to continue our forward momentum and get this to the President’s desk as soon as possible.”
While the Senate does not yet have a vote scheduled for the reconcilation bill, Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Monday he hopes to have the bill on the president’s desk “by the Fourth of July.” He can only afford three Republican no votes if all Democrats vote against it, as expected.
Already, a handful of Republicans have expressed expressed doubts on the bill, according to CBS News, including Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Josh Hawley (Mo.), and Rand Paul (Ky.).
