The Senate last Thursday evening voted 77 to 20 to pass its version of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a $32.1 billion boost to the defense topline.
Lawmakers struck a deal earlier in the day on amendments after progress on the bill had stalled, with the upper chamber agreeing to adopt measures such as providing more flexibility for the AUKUS trilateral security partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia.
“Today, the Senate passed one of the most important legislative priorities to enable the modernization of our military and strengthen[ing] of our national security,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Armed Services Committee (SASC), said in a statement. “My colleagues and I have prioritized reindustrialization and the structural rebuilding of the arsenal of democracy, starting with drone technology, shipbuilding, and innovative low-cost weapons.”
Ultimately, the defense policy bill passed with mostly bipartisan support, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as the lone Republican to join 19 Democrats in opposing the legislation.
Several Democrats who represent states where the Donald Trump administration has deployed the National Guard, including SASC member Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), issued a statement on their opposition.
“We cannot support authorizing this Administration to continue its egregious and unconstitutional abuse of our servicemembers, with Donald Trump treating them like political props by deploying them domestically without any legitimate reason or request from state and local officials,” said Duckworth, along with Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). “The purpose of the NDAA is to make sure our military has the authorities and resources it needs to protect our national security—but right now, by pulling troops away from their core missions and forcing them into our own streets, Donald Trump is threatening the very rights we all hold dear as Americans.”
As part of a bipartisan amendment package, the Senate also adopted measures to maintain support for the Baltic Security Initiative, to establish a SkyFoundry program for the rapid development, testing, and scalable manufacturing of small drones and to set up a pilot program at the Pentagon for deploying microreactors.
The Senate must now negotiate a final version with the House, which passed its version of the NDAA without a topline boost in September.
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) offered the amendment to bolster authorities for AUKUS, which includes exempting the partnership from certain Arms Export Control Act requirements and eliminating the Congressional certification requirement for commercial technical assistance or manufacturing license agreements involving the U.K. and Australia.
The Senate’s version of the NDAA includes Wicker’s Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense (FORGED) Act, a wide-ranging acquisition reform proposal that SASC has noted includes repealing or amending more than 100 provisions “to streamline the defense acquisition process, reduce administrative complexity and remove outdated requirements, limitations and other matters.”
The $32.1 billion topline boost in the Senate’s bill supports an additional $8.5 billion for shipbuilding, $6 billion more for munitions, about $2 billion to cover each of the services’ unfunded priorities lists, adds 10 additional F-35As above the administration’s request and includes $2 billion more for military construction.
The Senate must now negotiate a final version of the legislation with the House, which passed its version of the NDAA without a topline boost in September.
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily first published this article.