The Donald Trump administration rolled out its very high-level budget proposal for fiscal 2027 this Friday, April 3, which included $32.8 billion for the Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The fiscal 2027 request for NNSA is $3.6 billion, or 12%, more than what the agency in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile received last year. For fiscal 2026, the White House requested just under $30 billion for NNSA when including the $4.8 billion in mandatory funding through the reconciliation process, or the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The budget requests $53.9 billion in discretionary budget authority for DOE, a $4.8 billion or nearly 10% increase from the 2026 enacted level excluding the Working Families Tax Cut Act, according to the document.
The budget request will be sent to Congress, currently in recess until mid-April. A more detailed request will be released April 21, Pentagon officials told Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily.
The high-level request and its fact sheet, both posted on the White House website, said the budget will provide NNSA with funding for “producing a robust, credible, and modern nuclear deterrent that protects the American people.”
“The United States must maintain and expand its set of nuclear capabilities that allow the President flexibility to protect the homeland and deter adversaries,” the fact sheet continued. “The Budget makes strong investments to develop new warheads that would bolster deterrence, modernize NNSA’s supporting infrastructure, and extend the life of existing warheads.”
$1.2 billion was also requested for artificial intelligence to support supercomputers at Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
A military factsheet said the budget proposes $1.15 trillion in discretionary spending, which is a 28% increase from fiscal 2026, and $350 billion in reconciliation funding, bringing the total to $1.5 trillion. Included in defense spending is $65.8 billion for shipbuilding, which would include increasing procurement of Columbia– and Virginia-class submarines. It would also “establish” the “Golden Fleet,” or a fleet of Trump-class battleships that would reportedly be designed to carry the nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile and be a fourth leg of the nuclear triad.
While there weren’t details for the other legs of the nuclear triad, such as Sentinel or the B-21, the budget did say it would invest in, and increase funding for, the defense nuclear enterprise. “Through modernization and diversification of nuclear forces and recapitalization of nuclear command, control, and communications capabilities, the Budget supports the deterrent as the foundation of America’s defense against threats to the homeland and America’s vital strategic interests,” it said.
Additional budget coverage will be available in coming days in Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
Congress last year lamented the Trump administration’s delayed budget request rollout which extended into the summer. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), the top Democrat on the defense appropriations panel, at the time called it “the latest budget in history” and noted that the staggered submission of documents from the Pentagon impacted appropriators’ crafting of defense spending legislation.
In terms of the Congressional appropriations process, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee that funds DOE and NNSA, told the Exchange Monitor in the halls of the Capitol earlier in March, “we can’t do anything without a top line, and we don’t have it yet.”
“I have a meeting today on our budget and we’re talking about options,” Kennedy said. “But we’re just flying blind.” He added he did not know when to expect a top line for that bill.
Additionally, Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement last week that with the White House’s backing, his panel will move “expeditiously” on crafting a second reconciliation bill, citing priorities for defense. Trump this week called on Congress to pass and send a second reconciliation bill to his desk by June 1, according to his Truth Social post.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also acknowledged the Pentagon could potentially ask Congress for $200 billion in supplemental funding to support the ongoing operation against Iran and replenish munitions used in the strike campaign, while noting the final requested figure “could move.” A second reconciliation bill could also potentially serve as a legislative vehicle to move forward on an Iran supplemental funding request.