The House last Thursday voted 218-214 to pass the massive reconciliation bill with $150 billion for defense that the Pentagon has built into its fiscal year 2026 spending plans.
After consideration of the tax and spending bill went through the night in the lower chamber, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed by President Trump July 4.
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees were responsible for crafting the defense portions of the reconciliation bill, which covers $150 billion in defense spending that would be allocated over the next four years and builds in flexibility to be spent over the next decade, to include $25 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense system, tens of billions to boost shipbuilding and increases for a wide swath of defense priorities.
“The One Big, Beautiful Bill makes a historic and long overdue investment of $150 billion to achieve President Trump’s Peace Through Strength agenda and restore American deterrence. We can’t afford to wait any longer to begin rebuilding our military capacity, launching the future of American defense, and supercharging American manufacturing,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) faced a tenuous situation late on Wednesday with several holdouts from hardline conservatives who sought deeper spending cuts in the bill, with Republican leadership having pressed ahead with considering the version of the legislation passed by the Senate earlier in the week.
Ultimately, just two Republicans, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), joined all Democrats in voting against the measure.
The reconciliation process allowed the Senate to pass the billions of dollars in budget-related Trump administration priorities without requiring the 60-vote threshold needed to break the filibuster.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, last week unveiled the updated version of the defense portion of the legislation, which included adding funds for industrial bases and cuts for removing classified programs.
This article was first published by Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily.
