The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released its version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which would authorize $32.31 billion in spending for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
SASC marked up its version of the must-pass defense policy bill last week, and it has advanced to the Senate floor now. The NDAA sets spending limits for the nation’s biggest defense programs, including the Department of Energy’s autonomous agency in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
This $32.31 billion authorized for NNSA would be $9 million more than the White House requested and $65 million less than the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) requested.
Under the NNSA account, weapons activities would be authorized $27.51 billion under the SASC version of the bill. That would be around $70 million more than the White House requested and around $10 million less than HASC requested.
Defense nuclear nonproliferation would be authorized around $2.4 billion, the same as the White House and HASC requested and the same as fiscal 2026 enacted levels.
The House counterpart committee advanced its version of the bill to the House floor at the beginning of June. Once both chambers pass their separate bills, the bill moves to a conference committee to resolve any differences before heading to both the House and Senate again and then landing on the president’s desk for a final signature. Congress aims to complete this process before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
