The Senate Armed Services Committee released bill language for its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would set the spending cap for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at $26.87 billion.
That is over $400 million more than the House Armed Services Committee authorized in its version of the NDAA that advanced out of committee 55-2 late Tuesday.
For fiscal 2025, the NNSA received $25.3 billion, and in the 2026 energy and water appropriations bill released by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water, which advanced out of the subcommittee on Monday and will be marked up by the full committee Thursday, the NNSA would receive $25.3 billion as well.
The Senate did a closed markup of the NDAA late last week and reported passing the bill out of committee Friday, July 11. Armed Services chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) filed the bill and released its language on Wednesday.
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. This year, the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery (SPEED) Act, meant for expediting acquisition reform in the Department of Defense, would act as a “shell” for both the House and Senate NDAAs, meaning combine the two bills, according to senior congressional officials in a virtual press briefing last week.
