[House Report 119-162]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
119th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 119-162
======================================================================
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026
__________
R E P O R T
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[TO ACCOMPANY H.R. 4016]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
June 16, 2025.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
60-694 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C O N T E N T S
Page
Bill Totals...................................................... 1
Committee Oversight.............................................. 3
Introduction..................................................... 3
Definition of Program, Project, and Activity..................... 4
Reprogramming Guidance........................................... 4
Funding Increases................................................ 5
Congressional Special Interest Items............................. 5
Fiscal Year 2025 Enacted Positions............................... 5
Classified Annex................................................. 5
Committee Recommendations by Major Category...................... 5
Military Personnel............................................. 5
Operation and Maintenance...................................... 5
Procurement.................................................... 5
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation..................... 6
Defense Health Program......................................... 7
Golden Dome...................................................... 7
F/A-XX........................................................... 7
Army Transformation Initiative................................... 8
Diversified Capabilities......................................... 9
Munitions Stock.................................................. 9
Leveraging Commercial Defense Acquisition Software-as-Service.... 10
Technical Competency in the Department of Defense-Space Force
Pilot Program.................................................. 11
Space Force Mission Area Budget Report........................... 12
Defense Innovation Unit and Defense Innovation Community of
Entities....................................................... 13
Industrial Base Policy........................................... 13
U.S. Transformation and Training Command......................... 14
Contracting Strategies and Guidance Relating to Intellectual
Property....................................................... 14
Operational Energy............................................... 15
Budget or Appropriations Liaison Support to the House Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee.................................... 15
Civil Reserve Manufacturing Network.............................. 17
International Initiatives........................................ 16
Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems.................................. 16
DOD Report on Sexual Assault Prevention.......................... 17
TITLE I. MILITARY PERSONNEL...................................... 19
Military Personnel Overview.................................... 21
Reprogramming Guidance for Military Personnel Accounts......... 21
Military Personnel Special Interest Items...................... 21
Permanent Change of Station.................................... 21
Military Personnel, Army....................................... 22
Military Personnel, Navy....................................... 25
Military Personnel, Marine Corps............................... 28
Military Personnel, Air Force.................................. 31
Military Personnel, Space Force................................ 34
Reserve Personnel, Army........................................ 37
Reserve Personnel, Navy........................................ 39
Reserve Personnel, Marine Corps................................ 41
Reserve Personnel, Air Force................................... 43
National Guard Personnel, Army................................. 45
National Guard Personnel, Air Force............................ 47
TITLE II. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.............................. 49
Reprogramming Guidance for Operation and Maintenance Accounts.. 51
Reprogramming Guidance for Special Operations Command.......... 52
Operation and Maintenance Special Interest Items............... 52
Quarterly Operation and Maintenance Updates.................... 52
Operation and Maintenance Budget Execution Data................ 53
Solar Modules and Inverters.................................... 53
Vieques and Culebra............................................ 53
Pueblo of Isleta Unexploded Ordnance Remediation............... 53
Air Force Special Operations Command CV-22 Osprey Mishaps...... 54
Food Insecurity................................................ 54
Military Spouse Employment..................................... 54
Military Criminal Investigative Organizations.................. 55
Media Companies................................................ 55
Quantum Workforce Study........................................ 55
Coordination with Tribal Nations............................... 55
U.S. Overseas Installation Commissaires........................ 56
Operation and Maintenance, Army................................ 56
Operation and Maintenance, Navy................................ 60
Naval Air Station Oceana..................................... 64
Kennebec River Federal Navigation Channel.................... 64
Marine Invasive Species at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam.... 64
Treatment of Livestock Grazing Permits....................... 64
Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps........................ 65
Operation and Maintenance, Air Force........................... 67
Operation and Maintenance, Space Force......................... 71
Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide........................ 73
Defense Security Cooperation Agency Programs................. 77
Northern Triangle Countries.................................. 77
Tanzania..................................................... 78
Northeast Asia............................................... 78
Workforce with Security Clearances........................... 79
Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund.............................. 79
Operation and Maintenance, Army Reserve........................ 80
Operation and Maintenance, Navy Reserve........................ 82
Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps Reserve................ 84
Operation and Maintenance, Air Force Reserve................... 86
Operation and Maintenance, Army National Guard................. 88
Maternal Care Response During Emergencies.................... 90
Operation and Maintenance, Air National Guard.................. 90
United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces............ 92
Environmental Restoration, Army................................ 92
Environmental Restoration, Navy................................ 92
Environmental Restoration, Air Force........................... 92
Environmental Restoration, Defense-Wide........................ 92
Environmental Restoration, Formerly Used Defense Sites......... 93
Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid................. 93
Cooperative Threat Reduction Account........................... 93
Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Account 94
TITLE III. PROCUREMENT........................................... 95
Reprogramming Guidance for Acquisition Accounts................ 97
Funding Increases.............................................. 97
Procurement Special Interest Items............................. 97
Aircraft Procurement, Army..................................... 97
Missile Procurement, Army...................................... 100
Procurement of Weapons and Tracked Combat Vehicles, Army....... 102
Procurement of Ammunition, Army................................ 105
Other Procurement, Army........................................ 108
Diversifying Advanced Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System
Inventory.................................................. 114
Army Integrated Tactical Network and Crypto Modernization
Requirements............................................... 114
Aircraft Procurement, Navy..................................... 114
Navy Adversary Aircraft for Training Purposes................ 118
Weapons Procurement, Navy...................................... 118
Procurement of Ammunition, Navy and Marine Corps............... 121
Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy.............................. 123
Submarine Construction....................................... 126
Other Procurement, Navy........................................ 127
Procurement, Marine Corps...................................... 133
Aircraft Procurement, Air Force................................ 136
Executive Airlift............................................ 140
Missile Procurement, Air Force................................. 140
Procurement of Ammunition, Air Force........................... 142
Other Procurement, Air Force................................... 144
Procurement, Space Force....................................... 148
Space Force Procurement Quantities........................... 150
National Security Space Launch Infrastructure................ 150
Procurement, Defense-Wide...................................... 150
Advanced Anticonvulsant System............................... 154
Defense Supply Chain Packaging............................... 154
Indo-Pacific Ammunition Manufacturing........................ 154
Defense Production Act Purchases............................... 154
National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account................... 156
TITLE IV. RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION............. 157
Reprogramming Guidance for Acquisition Accounts................ 159
Funding Increases.............................................. 159
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Special Interest
Items........................................................ 159
Long Endurance Aircraft........................................ 159
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Army............... 160
Joint Readiness Training Center Catalyst Pathfinder Lab...... 172
VAS AI/ML Optimization Program............................... 172
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy............... 172
Naval Telephony Modernization to Reduce Mounting Technical
Debt....................................................... 184
Maintenance Technologies Supporting Operational Research..... 184
Rapid Advanced Deposition.................................... 184
Coastal Environmental Research............................... 184
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force.......... 185
Air Force Resource Allocation................................ 198
Sentinel..................................................... 198
Next Generation Air Dominance................................ 199
Collaborative Combat Aircraft................................ 199
B-52 High Fidelity Simulator Modernization................... 199
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Space Force........ 200
Space Force Acquisition...................................... 204
Fixed Price Contracting...................................... 204
Resilient Position Navigation and Timing (PNT)............... 205
Strategic SATCOM Acquisition................................. 205
Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared................. 206
Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking.......... 206
Quarterly Reports............................................ 207
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide....... 207
Cybersecurity of Weapons Platforms........................... 221
Armstrong Test Facility...................................... 221
All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office......................... 221
Facilities and Administrative Costs of Research Institutions. 221
Indoor Air Quality at Department of Defense Facilities....... 221
Operational Test and Evaluation, Defense....................... 222
Test and Evaluation Activities............................... 224
TITLE V. REVOLVING AND MANAGEMENT FUNDS.......................... 225
Defense Working Capital Funds.................................. 225
National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund.................... 227
TITLE VI. OTHER DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROGRAMS................... 228
Defense Health Program......................................... 228
Reprogramming Guidance for the Defense Health Program........ 231
Carryover.................................................... 231
Military Medical Manpower.................................... 232
Electronic Health Records.................................... 232
Medical Research............................................. 233
Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program........................ 233
Peer-Reviewed ALS Research Program........................... 234
Peer-Reviewed Toxic Exposures Research Program............... 234
Peer-Reviewed Arthritis Research............................. 235
Advanced Orthopedic Surgical Training for Military Orthopedic
Surgeons................................................... 235
Non-Addictive Opioid Alternatives............................ 235
Blood Products Development................................... 236
Tricare-5 Transition......................................... 236
Routine Monitoring of Perinatal Mental Health Screenings..... 236
Maternal Health Provider Support............................. 236
Metastatic Cancer Research................................... 236
Advanced Operational Medical Readiness Requirements.......... 237
Preventing Deadly and Costly Respiratory Infections in
Military Treatment Facilities.............................. 237
Report on Oversight of Repairs and Execution of Funds Made
Available to William Beaumont Army Medical Center.......... 238
Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction, Defense............. 238
Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, Defense......... 240
Public Availability of National Defense Zone Maps............ 242
Office of the Inspector General................................ 242
TITLE VII. RELATED AGENCIES...................................... 244
National and Military Intelligence Programs.................... 244
Classified Annex............................................... 244
Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System
Fund......................................................... 244
Intelligence Community Management Account...................... 244
TITLE VIII. GENERAL PROVISIONS................................... 245
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.................. 253
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives........ 253
Program Duplication.......................................... 254
Transfer of Funds............................................ 254
Rescissions.................................................. 255
Compliance with Rule XIII, CL. 3(e) (Ramseyer Rule).......... 255
Changes in the Application of Existing Law................... 256
Appropriations Not Authorized by Law......................... 267
Comparison with the Budget Resolution........................ 268
Five-Year Outlay Projections................................. 268
Financial Assistance to State and Local Governments.......... 268
Committee Hearings........................................... 268
Disclosure of Earmarks and Congressionally Directed Spending
Items...................................................... 269
Full Committee Votes......................................... 271
Minority Views............................................... 276
Comparative Statement of Budget Authority...................... 279
119th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 119-162
======================================================================
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026
_______
June 16, 2025.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Calvert, from the Committee on Appropriations,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 4016]
The Committee on Appropriations submits the following
report in explanation of the accompanying bill making
appropriations for the Department of Defense, and for other
purposes, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026.
BILL TOTALS
Appropriations for most military functions of the
Department of Defense are provided for in the accompanying bill
for fiscal year 2026. This bill does not provide appropriations
for military construction, military family housing, civil
defense, and military nuclear warheads, for which requirements
are considered in connection with other appropriations Acts.
Activities funded in the Department of Defense
Appropriations Act, 2026 totals $832,027,000,000.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT
The Subcommittee on Defense held six oversight hearings and
seven classified sessions during the period of February to June
2025. Hearings were held in open session, except when the
security classification of the material to be discussed
presented no alternative but to conduct those hearings in
executive or closed session.
INTRODUCTION
The Committee recommendation for fiscal year 2026
Department of Defense discretionary funding is $831,513,000,000
which is equal to the fiscal year 2025 enacted regular
appropriation. The recommendation invests in America's military
superiority, shapes a more efficient and effective Department
of Defense, protects from threats at America's border, and
takes care of servicemembers and their families.
The Committee recommendation is fiscally responsible and
adheres to the discretionary budget topline put forward by the
Administration in the abbreviated budget proposal. This
recommendation was developed to complement the defense
investments moving on a parallel legislative track through the
reconciliation process. While these efforts are coordinated,
the mandatory spending proposals in the Administration's budget
fall outside the jurisdiction of this Committee. Taken together
these spending proposals represent the first $1 trillion budget
request for defense.
These national security investments represent a historic
step forward in enhancing readiness, modernizing the force,
shoring up munitions stockpiles, revitalizing necessary
shipbuilding capacity and production, protecting the nation's
borders from illegal trafficking of people and dangerous drugs
and materials, initiating a Golden Dome for America by
enhancing our air and missile defense research and development,
taking care of our service members, and fostering innovation in
the industrial base.
Importantly, enhancing our investments in national defense
is not just about additional funding, it is also about
resourcing the right things. The Committee appreciates the
Administration's shared dedication to eliminating waste and
pursuing governmental efficiency within the Department of
Defense and the Intelligence Community.
Furthermore, this recommendation realizes true budget
savings resulting from the Administration's immediate and
diligent efforts by legislating funding reductions and
efficiencies. However, the Committee's effort to support this
goal was hampered by the lack of a full budget proposal and
detailed justification material. This lack of information meant
that the Committee was unable to examine up-to-date program
execution data, in the context of a full fiscal year 2026
request. Nonetheless, the Committee offers its recommendation
on a timeline to allow for on-time consideration and enactment.
Funding a program must be timely (Kelly Johnson's Rule #11).
Despite the lack of information, the Committee maintained
its long-standing tradition of producing a bill in a bipartisan
manner to ensure the appropriate use of valuable taxpayer
funds. This Committee has produced a bill that meets our
obligations to the warfighter and to keep this nation safe from
ever-growing threats by making tough choices.
DEFINITION OF PROGRAM, PROJECT, AND ACTIVITY
For the purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-177), as amended by
the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Reaffirmation
Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-119), and by the Budget Enforcement
Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-508), the terms ``program, project,
and activity'' for appropriations contained in this Act shall
be defined as the most specific level of budget items
identified in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act,
2026, the related classified annexes and Committee reports, and
the P-1 and R-1 budget justification documents as subsequently
modified by congressional action.
The following exception to the above definition shall
apply: the military personnel and the operation and maintenance
accounts, for which the term ``program, project, and activity''
is defined as the appropriations accounts contained in the
Department of Defense Appropriations Act.
At the time the President submits the budget request for
fiscal year 2027, the Secretary of Defense is directed to
transmit to the congressional defense committees budget
justification documents to be known as the M-1 and O-1, which
shall identify, at the budget activity, activity group, and
sub-activity group level, the amounts requested by the
President to be appropriated to the Department of Defense for
military personnel and operation and maintenance in any budget
request, or amended budget request, for fiscal year 2027.
REPROGRAMMING GUIDANCE
The Secretary of Defense is directed to continue to follow
the reprogramming guidance for acquisition accounts as
specified in the report accompanying the House version of the
Department of Defense Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008
(House Report 110-279). The dollar threshold for reprogramming
funds shall be $15,000,000 for military personnel and operation
and maintenance; and $15,000,000 for procurement and research,
development, test and evaluation.
Additionally, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
is directed to continue to provide the congressional defense
committees annual DD Form 1416 reports for titles I and II and
quarterly, spreadsheet-based DD Form 1416 reports for Service
and defense-wide accounts in titles III and IV of this Act.
Reports for titles III and IV shall comply with guidance
specified in the explanatory statement accompanying the
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006. The Department
shall continue to follow the limitation that prior approval
reprogramming actions are set at either the specified dollar
threshold or 20 percent of the procurement or research,
development, test and evaluation line, whichever is less. These
thresholds are cumulative from the base for reprogramming value
as modified by any adjustments. Therefore, if the combined
value of transfers into or out of a military personnel (M-1);
an operation and maintenance (O-1); a procurement (P-1); or a
research, development, test and evaluation (R-1) line exceeds
the identified threshold, the Secretary of Defense must submit
a prior approval reprogramming to the congressional defense
committees. In addition, guidelines on the application of prior
approval reprogramming procedures for congressional special
interest items are established elsewhere in this statement.
FUNDING INCREASES
The funding increases outlined in the tables for each
appropriation account shall be provided only for the specific
purposes indicated in the tables.
CONGRESSIONAL SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS
Items for which additional funds have been provided or
items for which funding is specifically reduced as shown in the
project level tables or in paragraphs using the phrase ``only
for'' or ``only to'' in this report are congressional special
interest items for the purpose of the Base for Reprogramming
(DD Form 1414). Each of these items must be carried on the DD
Form 1414 at the stated amount, as specifically addressed in
the Committee report.
FISCAL YEAR 2025 ENACTED POSITIONS
The fiscal year 2025 enacted position detailed in this
report reflects the amount enacted in the Full-Year Continuing
Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (Public Law 119-4),
which was transmitted to the Department of Defense as part of
consultations prescribed in section 1422 and do not reflect
subsequent changes made by the Department as established in its
baseline for reprogramming.
CLASSIFIED ANNEX
Adjustments to the classified programs are addressed in the
classified annex accompanying this report.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS BY MAJOR CATEGORY
MILITARY PERSONNEL
In title I of the Act, the Committee recommends a total of
$176,171,154,000 for active, reserve, and National Guard
military personnel. The Committee recommendation provides full
funding necessary to increase basic pay for all military
personnel by 3.8 percent, effective January 1, 2026.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
In title II of the Act, the Committee recommends a total of
$283,338,909,000 for operation and maintenance support to the
military Services and other Department of Defense entities. The
recommended levels will fund robust operational training,
readiness, and facilities needs in fiscal year 2026.
PROCUREMENT
In title III of the Act, the Committee recommends a total
of $174,024,601,000 for procurement,
Major initiatives and modifications include:
$715,000,000 for M109A7 Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzers
and M992A3 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicles;
$3,781,433,000 for the procurement of the B-21 Raider;
$8,535,305,000 for 69 F-35 aircraft, which includes
$4,545,629,000 for 42 F-35As for the Air Force, $1,939,188,000
for 13 short take-off and vertical landing variants for the
Marine Corps, and $2,050,488,000 for 14 carrier variants for
the Navy and Marine Corps;
$2,727,694,000 for the procurement of 15 KC-46A tanker
aircraft;
$345,000,000 for the procurement of three F-15EX aircraft;
$1,218,344,000 for the procurement of four E-2D Advanced
Hawkeye aircraft;
$518,728,000 for the procurement of four KC-130Js for the
Navy Reserve;
$2,020,788,000 for the procurement of 19 CH-53K
helicopters;
$507,957,000 for the procurement of three MQ-25 unmanned
carrier-based aircraft;
$36,935,236,000 for the procurement of 28 Navy ships,
including six battle force ships to include one Columbia-class
ballistic submarine, two Virginia-class fast attack submarines,
two DDG-51 guided missile destroyers, two TAO Fleet Oilers, and
one T-AGOS Surtass ship for anti-submarine warfare;
$200,000,000 for the Israeli Cooperative Programs under the
Missile Defense Agency;
$1,356,700,000 to procure four space launch services under
the National Security Space Launch program line;
$641,120,000 to procure seven space launch services under
the Space Development Agency Launch program line;
$679,350,000 to procure two Global Positioning System III
Follow-On spacecraft.
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION
In title IV of the Act, the Committee recommends a total of
$147,693,576,000 for research, development, test and
evaluation,
Major initiatives and modifications include:
$938,544,000 for Army's Future Long Range Assault Aircraft;
$2,051,427,000 for the Air Force's Long Range Strike
Bomber;
$3,194,315,000 for the Air Force's Next Generation Air
Dominance program;
$1,841,765,000 for Air Force's Survivable Airborne
Operations Center;
$494,896,000 for Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft;
$500,000,000 for Air Force's E-7's;
$659,300,000 for continued development of the Navy's
conventional prompt strike program;
$971,580,000 for continued development of the Navy's Next
Generation Fighter;
$778,720,000 for Navy's Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO)
mission;
$264,940,000 for continued development of the Navy's
Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Weapon Development;
$1,651,720,000 for the Space Force's Space Technology
Development and Prototyping;
$1,133,922,000 for continued development of Evolved
Strategic SATCOM;
$204,659,000 for Space Force's GPS III Follow-On (GPS
IIIF);
$418,666,000 for Space Situation Awareness Systems;
$1,486,649,000 for the continued development of the Next
Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program;
$122,519,000 for Commercial SATCOM Integration;
$2,373,470,000 for the continued development of the
Resilient Missile Warning Missile Tracking program;
$349,286,000 for the continued development of narrowband
satellite communications;
$300,000,000 for the Israeli Cooperative Programs under the
Missile Defense Agency.
DEFENSE HEALTH PROGRAM
The Committee recommends a total of $40,917,184,000 for the
Defense Health Program to support worldwide medical and dental
services for active forces and other eligible beneficiaries.
GOLDEN DOME
On January 27, 2025, the President signed an executive
order creating the Iron Dome for America, more commonly called
the Golden Dome for America, to develop a next-generation
missile defense shield to protect the American people from the
growing threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic and cruise
missiles, and other advanced weapon systems. Providing for the
common defense of the Nation is a fundamental responsibility of
the United States Government and the Committee strongly
supports the goals and objectives of Golden Dome. Importantly,
such an ambitious endeavor will require a comprehensive
national effort and a clear common understanding between the
Department of Defense and the Committee of the detailed plans,
cost, tradeoffs, and risks involved in developing and fielding
such a complex system.
To date, the Department of Defense has yet to provide
information on what exactly it entails and how it intends to
implement Golden Dome or to make the case that it is feasible
or affordable. The Committee applauds the Department for naming
a highly qualified senior military officer to lead this effort,
but the Committee will need a detailed understanding of the
overall architecture and capabilities envisioned for Golden
Dome, both in the near-term--the next three years--and at full
operational capability. The Department of Defense must clearly
articulate to the Committee what current programs across the
Department are part of Golden Dome and how they will be
augmented and integrated to support it. Furthermore, the
Committee will require detailed proposals, realistic cost
estimates, and risk assessments of new investments and new
technologies for Golden Dome. In addition, the Committee needs
to understand the role, responsibility, and resources provided
by key allies and partners in Golden Dome.
Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of Defense
to provide the House and Senate Defense Appropriations
Committees, not later than 90 days after the enactment of this
Act and quarterly updates thereafter, with a comprehensive
plan, in classified form if necessary, that addresses the
reference architecture, capabilities-based requirements, and an
implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense
shield. In addition, the Committee directs the Secretary of
Defense to provide a separate budget justification volume with
the fiscal year 2027 budget request specifically detailing the
program descriptions, justifications, and budget requests
associated with Golden Dome, including a crosswalk of funds
requested for Golden Dome-related programs executed across the
Department.
F/A-XX
The Committee is deeply concerned by the Navy's declining
investment in strike fighter aircraft, particularly at a time
when carrier air wings are sustaining high operational tempo
across global theaters. This shortfall comes as the People's
Republic of China is rapidly out-producing the United States in
advanced fighters and threatens to surpass U.S. air superiority
in the Indo-Pacific, as the Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific
Command recently testified. China's continued advancements in
carrier aviation underscores the urgent need to modernize and
enhance the Navy's carrier air wing.
The Committee continues to strongly support the Navy's
efforts to develop the F/A-XX, a next-generation, carrier-
capable strike fighter to replace the aging F/A-18E/F Super
Hornet fleet. The Committee recognizes the unique capability
that Navy's F/A-XX program will provide in terms of air
superiority to the fleet, including greater operational range,
speed, stealth, and enhanced survivability. The Committee
understands the Navy's requirement for a sixth-generation
fighter remains unchanged and emphatically notes that the Air
Force's F-47 program is not interchangeable with Navy's
carrier-capable program. The Committee notes that both programs
are necessary parts of the future joint fight and failure to
pursue Navy's F/A-XX program risks leaving the U.S. dangerously
outmatched in a high-end conflict.
The Committee is dismayed by recent actions within the
Department to pause or delay progress on this critical program,
despite strong bipartisan and bicameral congressional support.
In fiscal year 2025, Congress provided $453,828,000 with the
clear expectation that the Navy would award an Engineering and
Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract. To date, no contract
has been awarded, which the Committee considers a failure to
execute congressional intent.
The Committee recommendation for fiscal year 2026 includes
$971,580,000 to continue development of the F/A-XX program and
directs the Secretary of Defense to obligate these and any
prior funds in a manner that supports accelerated design,
system integration, and risk reduction activities to achieve an
accelerated Initial Operational Capability (IOC).
Further, the Secretary of the Navy is directed, not later
than August 12, 2025, to submit a report to the congressional
defense committees that details: (1) the current acquisition
strategy and updated schedule for awarding the EMD contract;
(2) a revised development and fielding timeline for the F/A-XX
program to meet an accelerated IOC; (3) any programmatic,
budgetary, or policy barriers that have delayed execution of
prior-year funds.
ARMY TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE
In pursuit of transformation and acquisition reform, on
April 30, 2025, the Secretary of Defense directed the Secretary
of the Army to implement a comprehensive transformation
strategy to accelerate delivery of critical capabilities,
optimize force structure, and divest of programs deemed
obsolete or inadequate to meet the requirements of future
fights.
While the Committee supports the Army's intent to become a
leaner, more lethal, and adaptive force; the Committee is
disconcerted by the manner in which the Army has chosen to
present its plans and rationale to achieve the objectives set
out in the Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) to the
congressional defense committees. To date, the Army has yet to
provide complete budgetary details, tradeoffs, and risk
assessments of proposed divestments and investments of
capabilities and programs associated with ATI. In addition, the
Committee must be informed of the Army's future force structure
and end strength targets in its pursuit of eliminating waste
and optimization. Consequently, in drafting its recommendation,
the Committee is unable to take the Army Transformation
Initiative proposal into full consideration until further
details have been provided.
Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of the Army
and the Chief of Staff of the Army to provide a briefing to the
House and Senate Defense Appropriations Committees, not later
than July 31, 2025, that addresses fiscal year 2026 budgetary
impacts and funding requirements across the future years
defense program, capability-based requirements and
identification of capability gaps as a result of planned
divestments, and an implementation plan for Army Transformation
Initiative efforts. In addition, the Committee directs the
Secretary of the Army to inform the congressional defense
committees, not later than 30 days prior to implementation, of
any additional proposed changes taking place as part of the
Army Transformation Initiative or broader transformation
efforts.
DIVERSIFIED CAPABILITIES
The Committee strongly supports fielding and maintaining an
array of capabilities to enable combatant commanders to create
dilemmas, sow doubt, and increase strategic and operational
complexity for the adversary. Previous `divest to invest'
strategies have led to funding tradeoffs between emerging and
existing capabilities, often leading to premature divestment or
retirement of platforms. The Committee believes the U-2 Dragon
Lady continues to offer combatant commanders with intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance critical to their overall
intelligence picture. The Committee remains concerned about
timely follow-on capabilities, and therefore includes a general
provision that prohibits divestment of the majority of the U-2
fleet and provides $55,000,000 in Operation and Maintenance,
Air Force, to support U-2 programmed depot maintenance.
Further, the Committee firmly believes that a combination
of air and space assets for mission sets such as early warning
are necessary today and will be required well into the future.
Therefore, the Committee recommendation includes $500,000,000
in Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force for
the E-7 Wedgetail that will replace airborne capability lost by
the retirement of the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System.
MUNITIONS STOCK
The explanatory statement accompanying the Department of
Defense Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-47), under the
heading the ``Munitions Stock,'' directed the Secretary of
Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to jointly
submit a report on current and future munitions shortfalls. The
Committee directs the Secretary of Defense and Chairman, Joint
Chiefs of Staff to submit an updated report, following the same
parameters, to the congressional defense committees, not later
than 120 days after enactment of this Act. The report shall be
submitted in an unclassified form and may include a classified
annex.
The Committee notes that significant sums have been
provided for munitions in prior years through Department of
Defense Appropriations Acts, Supplemental Appropriations Acts,
and replenishment funds. A comprehensive view of munitions
procurement across funding sources is required to ensure an
accurate picture of industrial base health and capacity. The
Committee directs the chiefs of staff for each of the military
services to submit quarterly reports to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees, starting not later than 90 days
after the enactment of this Act, on the services' total
munitions requirements. In addition to providing a table
listing the total munitions requirements, this report shall
include production quantities by fiscal year, noting the source
of the funds being used to procure those quantities; the total
capacity of the line; and changes in projected quantities and
capacity from the previous quarter's report. The report shall
be submitted in an unclassified form and may include a
classified annex.
Lastly, the Committee notes that 10 U.S.C. 222c, Chapter 9,
directs an annual report to the congressional defense
committees on outyear unconstrained total munitions
requirements and outyear inventory numbers. The Committee
reminds the chiefs of staff of each of the military services
that this report shall accompany the annual President's budget
request.
LEVERAGING COMMERCIAL DEFENSE ACQUISITION SOFTWARE-AS-SERVICE
The Committee notes the significant investment in the
defense industrial base, none more so than the shipbuilding
industrial base where substantial investments are being made to
strengthen and expand manufacturing capabilities throughout the
supply chain, up-to and including additional super module
production locations. Despite this investment, the government
still employs legacy stove-piped supply chain management
systems and processes that are not capable of the active supply
chain management that is required across the life cycle of a
program.
Further, the Committee notes that commercial off-the-shelf
supply chain management software is currently available, and in
some cases employed at the program level. Program managers that
are leveraging these commercial tools should be commended for
their willingness to innovate and proactively anticipate and
mitigate supply chain challenges. However, the disaggregated
employment of these solutions limits their potential impact.
Today's supply chains are global, complex, and shared across
industries and government weapons systems of all types.
Therefore, the Committee urges the Secretary of the Navy to
explore enterprise-wide opportunities to employ and scale firm-
fixed-price commercial off-the-shelf defense acquisition
software-as-a-service (SaaS) to solve persistent cost and
schedule challenges in weapon systems across their life-cycle.
These defense acquisition cost and schedule challenges
expressly include supply chain risk and assurance, obsolescence
part management, alternative sourcing, foreign ownership due
diligence, science and technology scouting, small business
utilization, prototyping and rapid fielding, and modernization.
The firm-fixed price commercial off-the-shelf defense
acquisition SaaS shall integrate real-time defense and
commercial data, leverage artificial intelligence, automate
tasks and reporting, and align acquisition timelines with
operational demands.
Further, the Secretary of the Navy is directed to provide a
report to the congressional defense committees, not later than
90 days following enactment of this Act, that details the
current supply chain management systems employed by program
managers, to include the fiscal year 2026 Future Years Defense
Program (FYDP) resourcing profile for each system. The report
shall also detail a plan for employment of modern commercial
software technology to improve program supply chain management,
including a resourcing profile across the FYDP.
TECHNICAL COMPETENCY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE--SPACE FORCE PILOT
PROGRAM
The Committee remains concerned that the Department of
Defense continues to struggle with delivering critical
capabilities on-time and on-budget. Earlier this year, the
President signed an executive order directing the Secretary of
Defense to review the antiquated defense acquisition process,
address burdensome regulations, and make recommendations to
incentivize the acquisition workforce to utilize innovative
acquisition authorities and take measured risks. The Committee
supports this review and looks forward to receiving the
recommendations resulting from it. However, the Committee would
like to add that it believes a major contributor and perhaps
the root cause of the Department's failed acquisition system is
less an issue of process and authorities but is fundamentally
caused by the military rotation system where program managers
are replaced every two to three years and rarely in the job
long enough to become effective.
Admiral Hyman Rickover--Father of the Nuclear Navy--
testified before the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee
nearly 50 years ago about the core problem in managing complex
development programs. Rickover stated that due to the short
duration in the job, program managers ``have only the
shallowest knowledge of the theory of the techniques they must
deal with and little experience with the practical problems
involved. And they are never kept long enough on the job to
acquire such skill and knowledge. Before the results are in,
the manager will have moved and a new manager, equally
unqualified technically, will take his place.'' Rickover
continued, ``naturally the new manager will feel no
responsibility for prior decisions and actions; his primary
ambition will be to keep the project moving in the hope that it
will not fail during his own tour. Thus, responsibility cannot
be fixed and there is bound to be little continuity in
technical direction for most of the defense developments
underway today.''
Rickover's assessment is as true today as it was 50 years
ago. The Committee notes that statutes have been in place for
years requiring tenure of program managers, but sadly the
Department routinely ignores the statute, favoring instead to
rotate officers frequently in order to better position them for
promotion. The Committee feels strongly that promotions should
be based on merit and accomplishment, not based on getting the
plum assignments to ``punch the right tickets.'' The Committee
strongly encourages the Department to take Rickover's
assessment to heart and require program managers to stay in
their position until the job is done. The issue of program
manager technical competency is more critical than ever as
defense systems and weapons platforms are more technologically
complex than ever, such as with space systems.
Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of Defense
to propose to the House and Senate Defense Appropriations
Committees, not later than 180 days after the enactment of this
Act, a plan for a pilot program in the Space Force to organize
its programs and people by mission area. The Committee
encourages the Department to require those assigned to each
mission area to serve for substantially longer tours of service
so that they may develop and build the technical skills
commensurate with the challenges they face. While the Committee
is aware of the Space Force's Integrated Mission Delta (IMD)
concept, it does not go far enough in eliminating the seam
between the operations community and the acquisition community.
The intent of the pilot program is to implement mission area
program offices with responsibility, authority and
accountability for the entire life-cycle of a mission, from
system concept, through acquisition, development, fielding, and
operational life. Furthermore, the Space Force pilot program
should examine combining the enlisted and officer ranks into a
single system with fewer ranks, elimination of the current
occupational specialty categories, such as acquirers or
operations, in favor of specializations focused on mission
areas, such as missile warning or satellite communications,
with assignments focused on developing deep expertise in all
aspects of a mission area. The objective is to build technical
competency and depth in mission areas that will be better
positioned to make wise decisions in managing and delivering
the capabilities the warfighter needs.
SPACE FORCE MISSION AREA BUDGET REPORT
The Committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force to
continue to submit a report for Space Force programs that
organizes and aligns all budget lines for programs, projects,
and activities into mission areas, such as missile warning,
satellite communications, and position, navigation, and timing.
The report shall also include separate mission areas for
enterprise management, enterprise information technology, and
facilities and logistics. Each mission area shall include a
clear statement of the mission goals and plans, a detailed and
compelling justification for the requested budget, number of
military and civilian personnel required to carry out each
mission area, and an alignment of all the relevant individual
budget line items without further consolidation from the
traditional budget exhibits and activity groups of the various
types of appropriations. The Committee notes that the Space
Force has in the past funded a significant portion of its
overhead expenses through taxes on programs in the procurement
and the research, development, test and evaluation accounts.
This practice distorts the budgets for the programs in these
accounts and obscures the true overhead cost of the Space
Force. Therefore, the report shall clearly account for Space
Force overhead costs in the appropriate mission areas without
taxes being levied on programs. The Secretary of the Air Force
is directed to submit a fully completed report with the
submission of the fiscal year 2027 President's budget request.
DEFENSE INNOVATION UNIT AND DEFENSE INNOVATION COMMUNITY OF ENTITIES
The Committee views innovation as foundational to high
performing teams and high performing teams are the fabric of
high performing organizations. The Committee is encouraged the
Department has recognized the value of the Defense Innovation
Unit (DIU) as a contributor to acquisition improvements within
existing authorities. Specifically, the Committee notes the
Department's early emphasis to scale adoption of Software
Acquisition Pathway wherein the Secretary of Defense directed
collaboration between the Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition and Sustainment and DIU to develop an
implementation plan utilizing Commercial Solutions Openings
(CSO) as the default solicitation approach for software
acquisitions. The Committee applauds the Department for
increasing opportunities for commercial solutions. The
Department cannot afford to make decisions that result in
vendor-lock on capabilities and enabling activities in any
domain, hardware or software. The Committee looks forward to
understanding more about the implementation plan to scale
adoption of the Software Acquisition Pathway approach.
The Committee believes the Department continues to make
significant progress in facilitating collaborative innovation
environments and recognizes a review of organizations in the
innovation ecosystem is underway. The Committee anticipates the
review to be thorough and thoughtful, and that the DIU, as an
organization and leader of the Defense Innovation Community of
Entities (DICE), retains uninhibited access to Department
leadership. As evidenced by the Committee's recommendations for
fiscal year 2026, the Committee continues to support Accelerate
the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies
(APFIT), DIU, Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), and many
efforts led by DICE organizations. Additionally, the Committee
encourages the Department to implement recommendations outlined
in the Government Accountability Office report GAO-25-106856
fortwith. Implementation of the recommendations would
facilitate enhanced DICE synergy, provide strategic focus to
investments in innovation, and promote best practices in
leveraging commercial technology.
INDUSTRIAL BASE POLICY
The Committee is pleased that the Office of Industrial Base
Policy published a National Defense Industrial Strategy and
Implementation Plan that can begin to address long-standing
crevasses in the defense industrial base. The Committee
believes the Department has not properly resourced the defense
industrial base and arguably, until relatively recently, was
laissez-faire in thoroughly understanding relationships,
weaknesses, and vulnerabilities in the supply chain that if
understood, and valued, would have resulted in prioritized
budgeting and greater resources. The Department can no longer
afford to avoid issues and must act with urgency to shore up
critical gaps in the industrial base.
The Committee is cautiously optimistic that the Department
is motivated to address the range of issues spanning from
dependence on foreign sources of critical minerals to single
points of failure within a supply chain. The Committee urges
utilization of commercially available data and analytic tools
as well as federally funded research and development centers to
intensely analyze, illuminate, and subsequently resource a
combination of traditional and emerging technologies to
dramatically reduce supply chain vulnerabilities, radically
strengthen domestic manufacturing, and significantly elevate
advanced and emerging manufacturing technologies.
Furthermore, the Committee applauds the Department's
actions to prioritize and tackle programs experiencing systemic
performance difficulty in delivering capabilities on time and
on budget. The Committee is interested in understanding the
Department's analyses of what is fully uncovered by detailed
program reviews currently underway. Therefore, the Secretary of
Defense is directed to, not later than 30 days after the
enactment of this Act, submit a report to the congressional
defense committees, on the drivers of schedule delays, cost
overruns, and performance difficulty on meeting technical
requirements for all programs identified as requiring
Department leadership to formulate a ``turn-around'' strategy.
This report shall minimally include trends, if any, relating to
defense industrial base weaknesses, supply chain
vulnerabilities, and workforce constraints. Furthermore, the
report shall attempt to calculate cost estimates relating to
schedule delays, specifically.
U.S. TRANSFORMATION AND TRAINING COMMAND
The Committee is aware of the Army's decision to
consolidate Training and Doctrine Command and Army Futures
Command into a single Transformation and Training Command, and
looks forward to a detailed plan on the consolidation of force
generation, force design, and force development under one
headquarters.
The Committee directs the Secretary of the Army to provide
a briefing to the congressional defense committees, not later
than July 25, 2025, on the Army's plan to merge the two major
commands. The briefing shall include: (1) the roles,
responsibilities, and authorities to be assigned to the
Commander of the Transformation and Training Command; (2) a
description of the relationship between such authorities and
the authorities of the established Army acquisition enterprise;
(3) resources to be realigned from the Army Training and
Doctrine Command and Army Futures Command, to include any costs
associated with the consolidation; and (4) a description of
proposed force structure changes.
CONTRACTING STRATEGIES AND GUIDANCE RELATING TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The Committee recognizes the Department recently published
contracting strategies and guidance relating to Intellectual
Property (IP). The Committee values an approach focused on
tailored IP rights and balancing the interests of industry and
the Department. The Committee is optimistic that the Department
and industry, alike, recognize the complementary nature of IP
rights and Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) and agree
increased lethality and value to the taxpayer are the outcomes
of harmonizing IP rights and MOSA. The Committee looks forward
to collaborating with the Department to ensure resources are
available to support the Federated IP Cadre and acquisition
professionals to scale proficiency in negotiating data rights
to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.
OPERATIONAL ENERGY
The Committee expects the Department to recognize the value
in uninterrupted access to energy to improve lethality as well
as opportunities to reduce operating costs. There is direct
correlation between resilient, enduring energy access and
decisive advantage. The Committee notes, consistent with other
industrial base policy concerns that have received anemic
resourcing year-after-year, operational energy efforts are
often not prioritized. Therefore, the Secretary of Defense is
directed to submit biannual reports on advancements in
operational energy efforts to the House and Senate Defense
Appropriations Committees, beginning not later than 60 days
after enactment of this Act. The reports shall include a
detailed breakout of all investments underway throughout the
Department that contribute to the current Department of Defense
Operational Energy Strategy as well as new focus areas that may
have emerged since the strategy was published in 2023.
BUDGET OR APPROPRIATIONS LIAISON SUPPORT TO THE HOUSE DEFENSE
APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
Title II of this Act includes a provision that prohibits
the use of funds in this Act to plan or implement the
elimination or consolidation of a budget or appropriations
liaison office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the
office of the Secretary of a military department, or the
Service headquarters of one of the Armed Forces into a
legislative affairs or legislative liaison office. The House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense relies heavily on these
offices to conduct its oversight responsibilities and make
funding recommendations for the Department of Defense. The
Committee notes that while the separate offices of legislative
affairs within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the
military departments offer assistance to the authorizing
committees and individual members of Congress, such assistance
is provided on a parallel and separate track from the
assistance provided to this Committee and its Members by the
budget or appropriations liaison office of the Office of the
Secretary of Defense, the office of the Secretary of a military
department, or the Service headquarters of one of the Armed
Forces. As the offices of legislative affairs do not possess
the expertise and direct relationship to the Financial
Management and Comptroller organizations, which are essential
to the effective communication between the Department and the
Committees on Appropriations, it is critical that the budget or
appropriations liaison offices remain independent from the
legislative liaison offices, have organizational parity, and
retain the authority to respond directly and promptly with the
information required by the Committee and its Members.
Furthermore, with a reduction in personnel across the
Department and an apparent increase in congressional advisors
who attempt to supplant the budget or appropriations liaison
offices, the Committee is concerned that the ability of budget
and appropriations liaison offices to exercise their
responsibility towards the Committee is negatively impacted.
Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of Defense and
the Service Secretaries to provide appropriations liaison
offices with organizational parity and proper resourcing,
ensure that these offices have tasking authority, and serve as
the primary advisors to senior leaders in the Department of
Defense on appropriations and budget related matters.
INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
The Committee recognizes the importance of international
initiatives and the trilateral AUKUS security partnership in
particular. The AUKUS security partnership helps create a more
lethal force that further integrates the United States, United
Kingdom, and Australian forces, as well as lifts the domestic
defense industrial base under the regulatory framework
authorized under the National Defense Authorization Act for
fiscal year 2024 (Public Law 118-31). Given the strategic
nature of international initiatives, AUKUS in particular, the
Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide the
congressional defense committees a report, not later than 90
days after the enactment of this Act and quarterly updates
thereafter, on the progress of Pillar 2 technology efforts
relating undersea capabilities, quantum technologies,
artificial intelligence and autonomy, advanced cyber,
hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities, electronic
warfare, innovation and any future efforts/initiatives being
considered. The report will include budget profiles and
schedules, a full list of industry performers contributing to
ongoing efforts, and challenges that are slowing collaboration
and progression to deliver capabilities.
COUNTER-UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS
The Committee remains concerned about the escalating threat
posed by unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including the potential
for loitering munitions and other advanced drone technologies
to undermine U.S. defense capabilities and jeopardize national
security. The Committee supports the Department's efforts to
advance Counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities. Accordingly, the
Secretary of Defense is directed to, not later than 90 days
after the enactment of this Act, submit a report to the
congressional defense committees on research, development,
test, and evaluation of C-UAS technologies throughout the
Department. The report shall outline the Department's current
and planned C-UAS initiatives, including an assessment of
existing systems' effectiveness against emerging threats,
coordination with interagency partners, allies, academia, and
industry to advance C-UAS efforts, and illuminate challenges
integrating C-UAS solutions into air defense systems in complex
environments, such as urban or highly rural areas.
Additionally, the report shall include funding provided to
date, broken out by Service, component, or agency, as well as a
full list of industry performers contributing to ongoing
efforts.
DOD REPORT ON SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION
The Committee supports the Department of Defense Integrated
Primary Prevention (IPP) workforce, Sexual Assault Prevention
and Response (SAPR), and related support staff who are tasked
with reducing harmful behaviors, preventing sexual assault and
harassment, and providing specialized response services. The
Committee seeks to understand if recent workforce actions have
had any impact on command climates and prevention and response
to combat sexual assault and harassment. As such, the Committee
directs the Secretary of Defense to submit a report within 90
days after the date of enactment of this Act to the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees that includes: the total
number of billets designated to IPP, SAPR, and related roles at
the start of the calendar year 2025; the number of vacant
positions that have been open over one year; details on any
exemptions designated to hiring IPP, SAPR, and related roles;
and the number of staff who have opted to accept the deferred
resignation program, disaggregated by month of acceptance.
CIVIL RESERVE MANUFACTURING NETWORK
The Committee is deeply concerned about the national
security implications of China's global manufacturing
dominance. The ability of the People's Republic of China (PRC)
to scale and field systems quickly has highlighted the
calcification of the United States defense acquisition system
which struggles to deliver systems on time and on budget.
Action is needed to immediately accelerate the Department's
adoption of commercially available artificial intelligence
(AI)-driven additive manufacturing factories to preserve
America's military advantage. The Department has an exceptional
opportunity to scale advanced manufacturing technologies in a
way that bolsters the defense industrial base and the broader
American industrial base. A network of dual-use factories would
have the ability, with the same tooling on the same day, to
adaptively use metallic additive manufacturing for structural
components required in ships, submarines, munitions, ground
vehicles, aircraft, or spacecraft. By qualifying such
factories, the Department would establish a model for a broader
Civil Reserve Manufacturing Network (CRMN) that could have
qualified capacity to rapidly scale weapons during wartime,
while reducing taxpayer burden by manufacturing commercial
goods during peacetime, with no capital expenditure when
transitioning between products. The taxpayer expects the
Department to maximize every dollar. To emphasize the need for
a CRMN, the Committee recommends more than $131,700,700 in
Army, Air Force, and Defense-Wide Research, Development, Test
and Evaluation accounts to initiate the establishment of a
CRMN.
Furthermore, the Committee directs the Secretary of Defense
to provide a report and brief to the congressional defense
committees, not later than 30 days after the enactment of this
Act, outlining a plan to qualify the first factory in Fiscal
Year 2026. This briefing and report will also include a path
for transitioning existing production approaches to these
advanced manufacturing techniques that are capable of scaling
through direct government purchase of system hardware
structures as ``Government Furnished Equipment'' for
integrators, with improved government data rights that enable
agile broadening of the supply chain for subcomponents to
improve supply chain resiliency. This plan should include
approaches to government efficiency like stimulating the use of
advanced manufacturing through application of Federal
Acquisition Regulation Part 48, Value Engineering, to reduce
cost without sacrificing performance, reliability, qualify, or
safety. The plan should also identify statutory constraints and
recommendations to streamline the establishment of the CRMN.
TITLE I
MILITARY PERSONNEL
The fiscal year 2026 military personnel budget Committee
recommendation is summarized in the table below:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
MILITARY PERSONNEL OVERVIEW
The Committee recommendation provides $176,171,154,000 for
the military personnel accounts, which fund military pay and
allowances, recruitment and retention initiatives, and overall
quality of life programs for active duty, National Guard, and
reserve personnel. The recommendation provides an increase in
basic pay for all military personnel by 3.8 percent, effective
January 1, 2026. The Committee continues to encourage
constructive evaluations of recruitment and retention programs,
bonus and special pay incentives, and personnel benefit
programs for fiscal year 2026. The Committee remains supportive
of programs intended to enhance the morale and quality of life
of military personnel and their families.
REPROGRAMMING GUIDANCE FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL ACCOUNTS
The Secretary of Defense is directed to submit the Base for
Reprogramming (DD Form 1414) for each of the fiscal year 2026
appropriations accounts not later than 60 days after the
enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Defense is prohibited
from executing any reprogramming or transfer of funds for any
purpose other than originally appropriated until the
aforementioned report is submitted to the House and Senate
Defense Appropriations Subcommittees.
The Secretary of Defense is directed to use the normal
prior approval reprogramming procedures to transfer funds in
the Services' military personnel accounts between budget
activities in excess of $15,000,000.
MILITARY PERSONNEL SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS
Items for which additional funds have been provided or have
been specifically reduced as shown in the project level tables
or in paragraphs using the phrase ``only for'' or ``only to''
in this report are congressional special interest items for the
purpose of the Base for Reprogramming (DD Form 1414). Each of
these items must be carried on the DD Form 1414 at the stated
amount as specifically addressed in the Committee report. Below
threshold reprogrammings may not be used to either restore or
reduce funding from congressional special interest items as
identified on the DD Form 1414.
PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION
The Committee commends the Secretary of Defense for
directing the formation of a Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
Task Force to ``ensure that the Department of Defense provides
the highest quality moving services for our warriors, civilian
employees, and their families.'' The Committee is concerned
that the PCS process is inefficient, too costly, and severely
impacts morale, quality of life, and readiness of service
members and their families.
Relatedly, the Department continues to struggle to keep
many of its critical acquisition programs on schedule and at
cost. In recent hearings, the Committee has noted that this is
not a new issue and pointed to the nearly 50-year-old testimony
of Admiral Hyman Rickover before the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Defense concerning the pitfalls of an
acquisition system that replaces program managers every two or
three years.
Therefore, the Committee recommendation includes a
reduction of $662,872,000 for rotational travel across the
active-duty components. The Committee directs the Secretary of
Defense to provide a briefing within 90 days after the
enactment of this Act to the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees on the findings of the PCS Task Force with emphasis
on quality of life improvements and stability across the
Department's acquisition programs.
MILITARY PERSONNEL, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Military Personnel, Army:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
MILITARY PERSONNEL, NAVY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Military Personnel, Navy:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
MILITARY PERSONNEL, MARINE CORPS
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Military Personnel, Marine Corps:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
MILITARY PERSONNEL, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Military Personnel, Air Force:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
MILITARY PERSONNEL, SPACE FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Military Personnel, Space Force:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
RESERVE PERSONNEL, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Reserve Personnel, Army:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
RESERVE PERSONNEL, NAVY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Reserve Personnel, Navy:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
RESERVE PERSONNEL, MARINE CORPS
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Reserve Personnel, Marine Corps:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
RESERVE PERSONNEL, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Reserve Personnel, Air Force:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
NATIONAL GUARD PERSONNEL, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
National Guard Personnel, Army:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
NATIONAL GUARD PERSONNEL, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
National Guard Personnel, Air Force:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
TITLE II
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
The fiscal year 2026 operation and maintenance budget
Committee recommendation is summarized in the table below:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
REPROGRAMMING GUIDANCE FOR OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE ACCOUNTS
The Secretary of Defense is directed to submit the Base for
Reprogramming (DD Form 1414) for each of the fiscal year 2026
appropriation accounts not later than 60 days after the
enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Defense is prohibited
from executing any reprogramming or transfer of funds for any
purpose other than originally appropriated until the
aforementioned report is submitted to the House and Senate
Defense Appropriations Subcommittees.
The Secretary of Defense is directed to use the normal
prior approval reprogramming procedures to transfer funds in
the Services' operation and maintenance accounts between O-1
budget activities, or between sub-activity groups in the case
of Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide, in excess of
$15,000,000. In addition, the Secretary of Defense shall follow
prior approval reprogramming procedures for transfers in excess
of $15,000,000 out of the following readiness activity groups
or sub-activity groups listed below:
Army:
Activity Group 11 Land Forces
Activity Group 12 Land Forces Readiness
Activity Group 13 Land Forces Readiness Support
Activity Group 32 Basic Skill and Advanced Training
Navy:
Activity Group 1A Air Operations
Activity Group 1B Ship Operations
Activity Group 1C Combat Operations/Support
Activity Group BS Base Support
Marine Corps:
Activity Group 1A Expeditionary Forces
Activity Group BS Base Support
Air Force:
Activity Group ``Air Operations'', which includes
subactivity groups 011A Primary Combat Force and 011C Combat
Enhancement Forces
Activity Group ``Weapons Systems Sustainment'', which
includes subactivity groups 011M Depot Purchase Equipment
Maintenance, 011V Cyberspace Sustainment, and 011W Contractor
Logistics Support and System Support
Activity Group ``Installations'', which includes
subactivity groups 011R Facilities Sustainment, Restoration,
and Modernization, and 011Z Base Support
Activity Group ``Flying Hours'', which is only subactivity
group 011Y Flying Hour Program
Space Force:
Subactivity Group 012A Global C3I & Early Warning
Subactivity Group 013C Space Operations
Subactivity Group 013W Contractor Logistics Support and
System Support
Subactivity Group 042A Administration
Air Force Reserve:
Subactivity Group 011A Primary Combat Forces
Air National Guard:
Subactivity Group 011F Aircraft Operations
Additionally, the Secretary of Defense is directed to use
normal prior approval reprogramming procedures when
implementing transfers in excess of $15,000,000 into the
following budget sub-activities listed below:
Army National Guard:
Subactivity Group 131 Base Operations Support
Subactivity Group 132 Facilities Sustainment, Restoration,
and Modernization
Subactivity Group 133 Management and Operational
Headquarters
Air National Guard:
Subactivity Group 011W Contractor Logistics Support and
System Support
REPROGRAMMING GUIDANCE FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
The Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to submit a
baseline report that shows the Special Operations Command's
operation and maintenance funding by subactivity group for the
fiscal year 2026 appropriation not later than 60 days after the
enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Defense is further
directed to submit quarterly execution reports to the
congressional defense committees not later than 45 days after
the end of each fiscal quarter that addresses the rationale for
the realignment of any funds within and between budget
subactivities and the movement of any base funds used to
support overseas contingency operations. Finally, the Secretary
of Defense is directed to notify the congressional defense
committees 30 days prior to the realignment of funds in excess
of $15,000,000 between subactivity groups.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS
Items for which additional funds have been provided or have
been specifically reduced as shown in the project level tables
or in paragraphs using the phrase ``only for'' or ``only to''
in this report are congressional special interest items for the
purpose of the Base for Reprogramming (DD Form 1414). Each of
these items must be carried on the DD Form 1414 at the stated
amount as specifically addressed in this report. Below
threshold reprogrammings may not be used to either restore or
reduce funding from congressional special interest items as
identified on the DD Form 1414.
QUARTERLY OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE UPDATES
Regular interaction with each of the Services' financial
management offices enhances the ability of the Committee to
perform its essential oversight responsibilities. The Committee
notes the successful quarterly meetings this year with each of
the Services and directs the Director of each of the Service's
Operations Divisions (Financial Management and Budget) to
continue to provide quarterly briefings to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees on their respective operation and
maintenance execution rates in fiscal year 2026.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE BUDGET EXECUTION DATA
The Secretary of Defense and Service Secretaries are
directed to provide the congressional defense committees with
quarterly budget execution data. Such data should be provided
not later than 45 days after the close of each quarter of the
fiscal year and should be provided for each O-1 budget
activity, activity group, and subactivity group for each of the
active, defense-wide, reserve, and National Guard components.
For each O-1 budget activity, activity group, and subactivity
group, these reports should include the budget request and
actual obligations amount, the distribution of unallocated
congressional adjustments to the budget request, all
adjustments made by the Department in establishing the Base for
Reprogramming (DD Form 1414) report, all adjustments resulting
from below threshold reprogrammings, and all adjustments
resulting from prior approval reprogramming requests.
SOLAR MODULES AND INVERTERS
The Committee is concerned that solar modules and inverters
manufactured by Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC), as defined
by section 9901(6) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, could undermine
United States national security. Therefore, the Committee urges
the Secretary of Defense not to award federal financial
assistance or contracts for the purchase of solar modules or
inverters manufactured by FEOCs. The Committee also urges the
Secretary of Defense not to procure electricity from a solar
energy system containing solar modules or inverters
manufactured by an FEOC.
VIEQUES AND CULEBRA
The Committee remains concerned by the pace and scope of
environmental restoration on the island municipalities of
Vieques and Culebra in Puerto Rico. The Committee directs the
Secretaries of the Army and Navy, in collaboration with the
Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service, the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board,
and other local stakeholders, to submit a report to the
congressional defense committees no later than 180 days after
the enactment of this Act. The report shall provide a detailed
status update on current cleanup activities, a plan for
addressing remaining contamination and unexploded ordinance
hazards, a projected time horizon for completion of the
cleanup; and a funding plan outlining annual requirements and
planned contracting actions to achieve a thorough
decontamination result on both islands.
PUEBLO OF ISLETA UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE REMEDIATION
The Committee remains concerned with the pace and scope of
munitions and unexploded ordnance (UXO) removal on Pueblo of
Isleta. The Committee encourages the Assistant Secretaries of
the Air Force and the Army for Installations, Energy and
Environment to work closely with the National Nuclear Security
Administration, Department of Energy, and the officials from
Pueblo of Isleta to continue tribal consultation,
participation, and transparency in the survey and removal of
munitions and UXO to achieve a thorough and expedited removal
process. This should include any informational gaps on types
and amounts of debris and/or ordnance that might threaten
public health.
The Committee directs the Assistant Secretaries of the Air
Force and Army for Installations, Energy and Environment to
submit a report to the congressional defense committees not
later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act detailing
all respective munitions, UXO removal, decontamination
authorities, and plans applicable to Pueblo of Isleta.
To fully address the issue, the Committee encourages each
of the Assistant Secretaries for Installations, Energy and
Environment to work collaboratively with other agencies who
have conducted weapons-related activity on and around native
lands to ensure all munitions, UXOs, and hazardous materials
are surveyed. Where weapons-related activity between the
Services and other agencies overlap, both now and in the past,
the Committee directs the Assistant Secretaries for
Installations, Energy and Environmental to provide a report 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act to the
congressional defense committees providing the site, the amount
and type of munitions/remnants found that are under the
jurisdiction of that specific Service, and the cost and plan to
remove it.
AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND CV-22 OSPREY MISHAPS
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Commander, Special Operations Command shall
submit to the House of Representatives and Senate
Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense a report, with a
follow-on briefing, that includes the results of accident
investigations pertaining to any crash of the CV-22 Osprey
since the introduction of the aircraft or other mishap findings
involving the failure of the single high-speed planetary pinion
gear.
FOOD INSECURITY
The Committee recognizes the steps the Department of
Defense has taken to address food insecurity, including those
outlined in the ``Strengthening Food Security in the Force:
Building on Our Progress'' report delivered, in December 2023.
The Committee acknowledges the findings of registered
dieticians embedded within the 62nd Medical Brigade at Joint
Base Lewis-McChord, who created a food pantry to address food
insecurity affecting the health and readiness of Service
members and families and encourages the Department to support
other units who are seeking to emulate the food pantry
initiative. The Committee further encourages the Department to
educate units on the benefits of creating a food pantry to
address food insecurity.
MILITARY SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT
The Committee recognizes the need for comprehensive data
measuring employment among military spouses over time. The
Committee encourages the Department of Defense to engage with
the Bureau of Labor Statistics to collaborate in assessing the
potential for measuring labor market outcomes and
characteristics of military spouses with existing survey data
and explore options for modifying such surveys to capture this
population.
MILITARY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
The Committee encourages the Service Secretaries to fully
fund each military criminal investigative organization (MCIO)
commensurate with their increased caseloads. The Committee
directs the Service Secretaries to provide a briefing within
120 days after the enactment of this Act to the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees on the ongoing efforts to
improve the MCIOs, including the need for updated case
management systems, improved cold case units, and staffing of
hard to fill posts.
MEDIA COMPANIES
The Committee understands that, as the largest advertiser
in the United States, the federal government should work to
ensure fair access to its advertising contracts for small,
disadvantaged businesses and businesses owned by service-
disabled veterans, minorities, and women. The Committee directs
each agency under jurisdiction of this Act to include the
following information in its fiscal year 2027 budget
justification: expenditures for fiscal year 2026 and expected
expenditures for fiscal year 2027 for all contracts for
advertising services; contracts for the advertising services of
socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses
concerns (as defined in section 8(a)(4) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 637 (a)(4)); and contracts for the advertising
services of service-disabled veteran-, women-, and minority-
owned businesses.
QUANTUM WORKFORCE STUDY
The Committee recognizes the importance of developing a
strong quantum workforce and encourages the Department of
Defense to work with the National Science Foundation in
developing a pipeline of quantum talent to address our national
security needs. The Committee expects the Department of
Defense, through the Office of the Under Secretary of Research
and Engineering, to develop a workforce that covers each area
of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
fields to employ physicists, computer science engineers,
chemists, and mathematicians. To ensure this workforce is
developed, the Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to
provide a report to the congressional defense committees that
provides the numbers of STEM personnel on staff across the
Department for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 and the numbers
budgeted for in fiscal year 2026 within 45 days after the date
of enactment of this Act.
COORDINATION WITH TRIBAL NATIONS
The Committee is pleased that the Department of Defense has
entered into partnerships with Tribal Nations to coordinate
proving grounds and testing ranges for active duty and National
Guard troops in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Plains States.
The Committee encourages the Department to consider additional
partnership agreements and expand coordination where
practicable.
U.S. OVERSEAS INSTALLATION COMMISSARIES
The Committee is concerned by the limits foreign countries
place on U.S. products in commissaries located on U.S. overseas
installations. In particular, the Committee notes that undue
restrictions have been placed prohibiting the transit of
poultry to commissaries on U.S. overseas installations based on
outbreaks of avian influenza in the United States. These
restrictions are even stricter than U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) restrictions within the United States. The
Committee believes that products that meet U.S. regulatory
standards that have been deemed safe for commerce by USDA and
identified for military use should be considered for
exemptions. The Committee encourages the Secretary of Defense,
in concurrence with the Secretary of State, to work with the
Secretary of Agriculture to negotiate with foreign governments
that host U.S. overseas installations to allow exemptions to
transit products to the commissaries in such foreign countries.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Army:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, NAVY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Navy:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
NAVAL AIR STATION OCEANA
The Committee remains concerned about the facility
conditions of Naval Air Station Oceana, the Navy's primary
location for force development and force generation of strike
fighter capability for east coast-based carrier air wings and
strike groups. While the Committee appreciates the Navy's
increased emphasis on investment in infrastructure,
particularly for enablers of fleet readiness, there remains a
lack of focus on sustaining long-term investments to improve
readiness. Further, continued reliance on traditional
approaches and solutions will not solely contribute to
increased facility conditions and improved readiness. Given the
magnitude of cost and scope of outstanding repairs as well as
the cost and schedule of new military construction, the
Committee encourages the Navy to determine the suitability of
tension fabric structures, particularly for large facilities
such as hangars.
KENNEBEC RIVER FEDERAL NAVIGATION CHANNEL
The Committee supports the Memorandum of Agreement signed
in January 2020 denoting the responsibilities of the Department
of the Army and the Department of the Navy for the regular
maintenance of the Kennebec River Federal Navigation Channel.
The Committee is concerned that the channel is not currently
being maintained to the required depth on an annual basis,
affecting the movement of Navy surface combatants, and
encourages the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the
Navy to respond with the appropriate resources and planning to
ensure that the channel is passable annually, per the
Memorandum of Agreement, to ensure the navigability of the
Kennebec River for the test, trial and delivery of newly
constructed Navy surface combatants to the Atlantic Ocean. The
Committee directs the Secretaries of the Army and Navy to
provide a briefing to the congressional defense committees on
progress to achieve the goals outlined in the Memorandum within
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
MARINE INVASIVE SPECIES AT JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR HICKAM
Marine invasive species pose a potential threat to the
unique marine ecosystems and operational readiness at Joint
Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. These non-native organisms can damage
naval infrastructure by clogging cooling systems, damaging
hulls, and increasing maintenance costs. Removal and control of
invasive species ensures mission readiness and preserves the
base's strategic capabilities.
The Secretary of the Navy is encouraged to support a
program to control and eradicate invasive coral at domestic
naval installations. These efforts should consider carrying out
invasive coral control and eradication programs, supporting
interagency and intergovernmental responses, and carrying out
an education program to help prevent the introduction of new
invasive marine species into the waters of military
installations.
TREATMENT OF LIVESTOCK GRAZING PERMITS
The Committee is increasingly concerned about the Navy's
treatment and proposed compensation for livestock grazing
permitees impacted by the expansion of the Fallon Range
Training Complex. The Committee reminds the Navy that Section
2993 of Public Law 117-263 was intended to compensate impacted
grazing permittees for the generational loss of their
operations at full market rates. The Committee further reminds
the Navy that Section 2993 of Public Law 117-263 did not
provide any discretion for the Navy to use depreciated loss
calculations when determining how to make full and complete
payments to impacted parties for all losses suffered.
Consistent with the law, in the event that replacement forage
cannot be identified, the Committee expects the Navy to make
payments to impacted parties to cover all losses suffered by
the loss of their ranching at full market values for their
cattle over a 100-year time period.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, MARINE CORPS
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Air Force:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, SPACE FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Space Force:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, DEFENSE-WIDE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
DEFENSE SECURITY COOPERATION AGENCY PROGRAMS
The Secretary of Defense shall, not later than 30 days
after the enactment of this Act, submit to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees a detailed spend plan for amounts
made available for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The
plan shall include amounts for each program listed in the
budget justification documents and, for International Security
Cooperation Programs, amounts provided in the prior two fiscal
years and planned for fiscal year 2026 by combatant command,
country, and authority. The plan shall only reflect the amounts
requested in the fiscal year 2026 budget justification
materials as modified by fiscal year 2025 appropriations. A
similar document with requested amounts shall be provided to
such Committees concurrent with the submission of the fiscal
year 2027 President's budget request.
Of the amount provided for Defense Security Cooperation
Agency, the recommendation includes $1,274,174,000 for
International Security Cooperation Programs. The Committee
directs that congressional notifications for these funds
specify the fiscal year, whether funds support ongoing or new
programs, and the duration and expected cost over the life of
each program.
The recommendation also includes $500,000,000 for the
Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, which is $100,000,000
above the fiscal year 2025 enacted level. Such funds are
provided to increase Taiwan's defense, readiness, and
deterrence capabilities. The Committee expects these programs
to be integrated with other security assistance programs in a
manner that complements, rather than duplicates, efforts and
directs the Secretary of Defense to submit a spend plan to the
House and Senate Appropriations Committees not later than 60
days after the enactment of this Act.
The Committee also includes a provision that transfers
Mexico from the United States Northern Command area of
responsibility to the United States Southern Command area of
responsibility. This transfer is necessary to enable better
coordination and prioritization between countries within the
United States Southern Command area of responsibility. United
States Southern Command is best positioned to address the
shared security challenges between Mexico and its Central and
South American neighbors, particularly on the issues of drug
trafficking and illegal immigration.
NORTHERN TRIANGLE COUNTRIES
The Committee remains interested in evaluations of security
cooperation programs with Northern Triangle countries and
requests that the Secretary of Defense keep the Committee
apprised of such evaluations. The Committee is also concerned
about end-use monitoring of assistance provided under this
heading and directs the Department of Defense to provide a
briefing, not later than 60 days after the enactment of this
Act, on the status of implementation of recommendations
contained in the of Government Accountability Office report
``Northern Triangle: DoD and State need improved policies to
address equipment misuse'' (GAO-23-105856). The Committee is
also interested in Army Security Force Assistance Brigade
deployments. Therefore, any congressional notification made
pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 321 or 10 U.S.C. 333 should include a
description of the number of individuals deployed and their
training; the amount, type, and purpose of the training and
equipment to be provided to the recipient country's security
forces; the timeline and source of funds; and how the proposed
program would promote the overall security cooperation goals of
the brigade or country.
TANZANIA
The Committee recognizes that Tanzania has remained a
stable partner in the region, despite ongoing instability in
neighboring countries. Additionally, the Committee recognizes
that the Department of Defense and United States Africa Command
(AFRICOM) have invested in the U.S.-Tanzania partnership
through civil-military engagements and joint exercises with the
Tanzania Peoples Defense Forces (TPDF), as well as having added
Tanzania to the State Partnership Program. The Committee
encourages strengthening the U.S.-Tanzania military partnership
by continuing their participation in multinational exercises
such as Justified Accord, as well as military intelligence and
senior staff planning conferences.
To better understand the role of Tanzania in the
Department's plans for the region, the Committee directs the
Secretary of Defense, with support from the Commander, AFRICOM,
to submit a report not later than 90 days after the enactment
of this Act to the congressional defense committees. The report
should assess the strategic importance of partnering with
Tanzania, detail additional military cooperation that can be
achieved between U.S. military forces and the TPDF and evaluate
the impact that training with the TPDF has on American
readiness and lethality. The report should also provide policy
and funding recommendations that Congress can adopt to achieve
U.S. national security goals and AFRICOM campaign objectives in
Tanzania.
NORTHEAST ASIA
The Department of Defense must provide clarity and a vision
regarding the enduring mission, force posture, capability
development, and resourcing priorities for United States Forces
Japan (USFJ), United States Forces Korea (USFK) and United
Nations Command (UNC), consistent with the Interim National
Defense Strategy, integrated deterrence objectives, and
evolving regional threats. U.S. force posture and command and
control decisions in Japan and Korea must reflect both current
operational requirements and future strategic demands and must
be clearly articulated to our allies and partners, as well as
to Congress to ensure alignment with legislative priorities and
oversight responsibilities. The Committee directs the Secretary
of Defense, in coordination with the Commander of United States
Indo-Pacific Command, the Commander of United States Forces
Korea, and the Commander of United Nations Command, and the
Commander of United States Forces Japan to submit to the
congressional defense committees an assessment that: (1)
articulates the interoperability of USFJ, USFK, and UNC within
the context of the most recent Interim National Defense
Strategy and posture planning documents; (2) evaluates posture,
logistics, and command and control challenges that may inhibit
the responsiveness or effectiveness of USFJ, USFK and UNC,
including prepositioned stocks, limitations in strategic
mobility, and operational access; (3) outlines a framework that
drives the capabilities required; and (4) assesses whether
current and programmed force posture, command and control,
capabilities, logistics, and infrastructure in Japan and the
Republic of Korea are sufficient to support deterrence,
warfighting, and integrated campaigning requirements. This
assessment shall account for all existing Host Nation
Agreements and shall be delivered to the congressional defense
committees by April 1, 2026.
WORKFORCE WITH SECURITY CLEARANCES
The Committee is concerned that the rapid technological
progress in artificial intelligence and other fields has
markedly increased competition for professionals with advanced
science, technology, engineering, and math credentials. Current
education-to-hire pipeline programs have shown recruiting
success, and the Committee recognizes the progress the
Department continues to make in the Trusted Workforce 2.0
initiative. Additionally, the Committee commends efforts by the
Department to partner with academia in creating a pipeline of
students with security clearances, enabling immediate
employment upon graduation, and encourages the Department to
further expand these partnerships across Department of Defense
laboratories, ranges, and installations. The Committee directs
the Secretary of Defense to continue providing Trusted
Workforce quarterly progress reports to the congressional
defense committees.
COUNTER-ISIS TRAIN AND EQUIP FUND
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
the Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Committee recommendation continues support for the
Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish Peshmerga, and the Syrian
Democratic Forces to participate in activities to counter the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The Committee directs that
congressional notifications for funds provided under this
heading include a description of the amount, type, and purpose
of assistance to be funded, and the recipient of the
assistance; the budget and implementation timeline, with
anticipated delivery schedule for assistance; and a description
of any material misuse of assistance since the last
notification was submitted, along with a description of any
remedies taken.
The Committee commends the Department on reducing the
footprint of U.S. forces in Syria, enabling them to operate
from a more defensible posture. The Committee, however, is
concerned about the integration of Syrian Democratic Forces
into the new Syrian government's security forces. The Committee
also remains concerned about progress under the Al Hol Action
Plan. The Committee, therefore, directs the Secretary of
Defense to provide a briefing no later than 60 days after the
enactment of this Act. The briefing should assess the
integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces into the new Syrian
government security force and evaluate progress made under the
Al Hol Action Plan.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, ARMY RESERVE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Army Reserve:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, NAVY RESERVE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Navy Reserve:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, MARINE CORPS RESERVE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps Reserve:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, AIR FORCE RESERVE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Air Force Reserve:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Army National Guard:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
MATERNAL CARE RESPONSE DURING EMERGENCIES
The Committee recognizes the critical role that the
National Guard plays in support of local, state, and federal
agencies in preparing for and responding to public health
emergencies and domestic disasters. To better prepare National
Guard members, the Committee encourages the Department of
Defense within 120 days after the enactment of this Act to
convene a meeting of federal; state, local, or territorial
public health officials; Tribal public health officials; and
public stakeholders representing maternity care providers,
maternal health focused community based organizations, and
patient voices to discuss measures to detect maternal and child
health needs and measures to facilitate access and delivery of
maternal and child healthcare during public health emergencies
and domestic disasters. Additionally, the Department should
consider a process for the routine creation, dissemination, and
update of materials related to safe maternity care during
public health emergencies and domestic disasters.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, AIR NATIONAL GUARD
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operation and Maintenance, Air National Guard:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ARMED FORCES
The Committee recommends an appropriation of $21,243,000
for the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, ARMY
EXPLANATION OF PROJECT LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
[In thousands of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Committee
2025 Enacted Recommended
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, ARMY 283,069 148,070
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, ARMY 283,069 148,070
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, NAVY
EXPLANATION OF PROJECT LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
[In thousands of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Committee
2025 Enacted Recommended
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, NAVY 343,591 357,949
Program increase 14,358
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, 343,591 357,949
NAVY
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, AIR FORCE
EXPLANATION OF PROJECT LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
[In thousands of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Committee
2025 Enacted Recommended
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, AIR FORCE 330,524 342,149
Program increase 11,625
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, AIR 330,524 342,149
FORCE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, DEFENSE-WIDE
EXPLANATION OF PROJECT LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
[In thousands of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Committee
2025 Enacted Recommended
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, DEFENSE WIDE 9,480 8,885
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, 9,480 8,885
DEFENSE WIDE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, FORMERLY USED DEFENSE SITES
EXPLANATION OF PROJECT LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
[In thousands of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Committee
2025 Enacted Recommended
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, FORMERLY USED 236,475 235,156
DEFENSE SITES
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, 236,475 235,156
FORMERLY USED DEFENSE SITES
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OVERSEAS HUMANITARIAN, DISASTER, AND CIVIC AID
The Committee recommends the following appropriation for
Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid:
EXPLANATION OF PROJECT LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
[In thousands of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Committee
2025 Enacted Recommended
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOREIGN DISASTER RELIEF 20,000 20,460
Program increase--inflation adjustment 460
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE 80,335 82,183
Program increase--inflation adjustment 1,848
HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION PROGRAM 15,000 15,345
Program increase--inflation adjustment 345
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, OVERSEAS HUMANITARIAN, DISASTER, 115,335 117,988
AND CIVIC AID
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to include
in its budget justification materials for Humanitarian
Assistance and the Humanitarian Mine Action amounts planned for
each Combatant Command, country, and program area, as well as a
comparison to funding provided in the previous two fiscal
years. The Committee also directs the Secretary of Defense to
inform the House and Senate Appropriations Defense
Subcommittees of any planned foreign disaster relief not later
than 72 hours following a disaster declaration that involves a
request for Department of Defense support.
COOPERATIVE THREAT REDUCTION ACCOUNT
The Committee recommends the following appropriation for
the Cooperative Threat Reduction Account:
EXPLANATION OF PROJECT LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
[In thousands of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Committee
2025 Enacted Recommended
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIOLOGICAL THREAT REDUCTION PROGRAM 160,402 160,402
CHEMICAL SECURITY & ELIMINATION 20,717 18,645
DELIVERY SYSTEM THREAT REDUCTION 7,036 6,332
PROLIFERATION PREVENTION PROGRAM 41,026 36,923
GLOBAL NUCLEAR SECURITY 33,665 30,621
OTHER ASSESSMENTS/ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS 33,230 29,907
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, COOPERATIVE THREAT REDUCTION 296,076 282,830
ACCOUNT
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT
The Committee recommends an appropriation of $61,776,000
for the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development
Account.
TITLE III
PROCUREMENT
The fiscal year 2026 procurement budget Committee
recommendation is summarized in the table below:
REPROGRAMMING GUIDANCE FOR ACQUISITION ACCOUNTS
The Secretary of Defense is directed to continue to follow
the reprogramming guidance as specified in the report
accompanying the House version of the Department of Defense
Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008 (House Report 110-
279). Specifically, the dollar threshold for reprogramming
funds shall be $15,000,000 for procurement and research,
development, test and evaluation.
Also, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) is
directed to continue to provide the congressional defense
committees quarterly, spreadsheet-based DD Form 1416 reports
for Service and defense-wide accounts in titles III and IV of
this Act. Reports for titles III and IV shall comply with the
guidance specified in the explanatory statement accompanying
the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006. The
Department shall continue to follow the limitation that prior
approval reprogramming actions are set at either the specified
dollar threshold or 20 percent of the procurement or research,
development, test and evaluation line, whichever is less. These
thresholds are cumulative from the base for reprogramming value
as modified by any adjustments. Therefore, if the combined
value of transfers into or out of a procurement (P-1) or
research, development, test and evaluation (R-1) line exceeds
the identified threshold, the Secretary of Defense must submit
a prior approval reprogramming to the congressional defense
committees. In addition, guidelines on the application of prior
approval reprogramming procedures for congressional special
interest items are established elsewhere in this report.
FUNDING INCREASES
The funding increases outlined in these tables shall be
provided only for the specific purposes indicated in the
tables.
PROCUREMENT SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS
Items for which additional funds have been recommended or
items for which funding is specifically reduced as shown in the
project level tables detailing recommended adjustments or in
paragraphs using the phrase ``only for'' or ``only to'' in this
report are congressional special interest items for the purpose
of the Base for Reprogramming (DD Form 1414). Each of these
items must be carried on the DD Form 1414 at the stated amount,
as specifically addressed elsewhere in this report.
AIRCRAFT PROCUREMENT, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Aircraft Procurement, Army:
MISSILE PROCUREMENT, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Missile Procurement, Army:
PROCUREMENT OF WEAPONS AND TRACKED COMBAT VEHICLES, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Procurement of Weapons and Tracked Combat Vehicles, Army:
PROCUREMENT OF AMMUNITION, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Procurement of Ammunition, Army:
OTHER PROCUREMENT, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Other Procurement, Army:
DIVERSIFYING ADVANCED COUNTER-UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM INVENTORY
The Committee remains concerned about the evolving threat
from advanced, adversarial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and
the Army's ability to rapidly incorporate novel solutions into
their formal acquistion framework. To support the development
of an acquisition framework of innovative counter-UAS (C-UAS)
capabilities, the Committee directs the Secretary of the Army
to provide a spend plan, not later than 90 days after the
enactment of this Act, to diversify and expand C-UAS systems.
The spend plan shall include detect and track systems, combat-
validated C-UAS interceptors, and any other capabilities as
determined by the Secretary.
ARMY INTEGRATED TACTICAL NETWORK AND CRYPTO MODERNIZATION REQUIREMENTS
The Committee supports the Army's investments in the
Handheld, Manpack, and Small Form Fit (HMS) programs, and
recognizes the importance of procuring systems that conform to
security, privacy, and cyber supply chain risk management
activities through the Risk Management Framework process. The
Committee encourages the Secretary of the Army to ensure such
levels of security are met in current and future tactical radio
system procurements.
AIRCRAFT PROCUREMENT, NAVY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Aircraft Procurement, Navy:
NAVY ADVERSARY AIRCRAFT FOR TRAINING PURPOSES
The Committee notes the growing requirement for near-peer
representative air-to-air training using aggressor aircraft
with capabilities similar to that of advanced adversaries. The
Committee remains supportive of ongoing efforts to increase
capabilities of aircraft assigned to aggressor squadrons;
however, the Committee remains concerned about the overuse of
some legacy aircraft to carry out this mission in the long-
term. To maintain strategic Navy Reserve air strike fighter and
air aggressor capability, the Committee encourages the
Secretary of the Navy to transition deployable F/A-18E/F
aircraft considered for divestment, as available, from the
Active Component to Navy Reserve aviation squadrons.
WEAPONS PROCUREMENT, NAVY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Weapons Procurement, Navy:
PROCUREMENT OF AMMUNITION, NAVY AND MARINE CORPS
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Procurement of Ammunition, Navy and Marine Corps:
SHIPBUILDING AND CONVERSION, NAVY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy:
SUBMARINE CONSTRUCTION
The Committee believes full funding is critical for the
stability of the Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) and provides
for increased accountability to best ensure the delivery of on-
time, on-budget submarines to the fleet. In a time where the
industrial base is already challenged to meet the critical 2030
delivery schedule of the lead Columbia-class submarine to
fulfill the nation's strategic nuclear requirement, the
Committee believes that incremental funding will only create
further risk to the program. Therefore, the Committee
recommendation includes full funding for one Columbia-class
submarine and two Virginia-class submarines.
The Committee notes the Navy's 45-day Shipbuilding Review
found significant delays, cost overruns, and workforce
recruitment and retention challenges to several critical
shipbuilding programs, but notably reported 12-16 months delay
in lead boat construction of the Columbia-class submarine
construction and 24-36 months delay in Virginia-class
construction. Delays in submarine construction present a
significant risk to strategic deterrence, seriously erode
undersea superiority, and negatively impact operational
availability and long-term readiness.
The Committee recognizes that the health of the MIB is
vital to achieving the ``1+2'' production rate for the Columbia
and Virginia-class programs and meeting national security
requirements. Therefore, the Committee recommendation includes
$1,532,000,000 for the MIB to drive gains in critical areas
including supplier capacity and capability, strategic
outsourcing, workforce training, and technology and
infrastructure. This funding is in addition to the
$9,724,700,000 provided since 2018 to revitalize the maritime
industrial base and restore domestic shipbuilding. The
Committee recognizes that the success of this effort requires
more than just funding and that an undertaking of this scale
necessitates strategic and timely investment and rigorous
oversight. Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of
the Navy to submit a report to the congressional defense
committees, not later than 45 days after the enactment of this
Act and semi-annually thereafter, that details the Navy's
oversight strategy for administering all phases of MIB funding,
including the identification of gaps, selection of projects,
oversight of funding execution, and determining the return on
investment.
After significant subcommittee engagement in the form of
official briefings with the Navy and the prime nuclear
shipyards, in December 2024, Congress provided $2,212,410,000
in supplemental funding to address infrastructure and workforce
limitations at the private nuclear shipyards. The Committee
believes these investments are necessary to achieving and
sustaining the required submarine cadence in the long-term and
maintaining international commitments under the trilateral
Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) security
partnership. To that end, the Committee recommendation includes
$1,641,160,000 for productivity enhancements and $521,00,000
for wage enhancements at the private nuclear shipyards. The
Committee directs the Secretary of the Navy to submit a spend
plan for wage and productivity enhancement funding provided in
this and prior acts not later than 45 days after the enactment
of this Act. Following delivery of those spend plans, the
Committee directs the Secretary of the Navy to brief the
congressional defense committees not less than 45 days prior to
obligating funds that would deviate from those spend plans.
OTHER PROCUREMENT, NAVY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Other Procurement, Navy:
PROCUREMENT, MARINE CORPS
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Procurement, Marine Corps:
AIRCRAFT PROCUREMENT, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Aircraft Procurement, Air Force:
EXECUTIVE AIRLIFT
The Committee directs the Secretary of Defense, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Air Force, to provide a
report to the congressional defense committees, not later than
180 days after enactment of this Act, on a comprehensive
strategy for the expansion of the executive airlift fleet. This
report shall include, but is not limited to, the requirements
for the fleet, composition of the fleet, quantity by aircraft
type, manning limitations, funding requirements by fiscal year,
and barriers to developing a fulsome acquisition strategy.
MISSILE PROCUREMENT, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Missile Procurement, Air Force:
PROCUREMENT OF AMMUNITION, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Procurement of Ammunition, Air Force:
OTHER PROCUREMENT, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Other Procurement, Air Force:
PROCUREMENT, SPACE FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Procurement, Space Force:
SPACE FORCE PROCUREMENT QUANTITIES
The Committee recommendation provides $1,356,700,000 to
procure four space launch services under the National Security
Space Launch program line; $641,120,000 to procure seven space
launch services under the Space Development Agency Launch
program line; and $679,350,000 to procure two Global
Positioning System III Follow-On spacecraft. Quantities for
other end items funded in the Space Force procurement account
for fiscal year 2026 are the quantities as planned for fiscal
year 2026 in the fiscal year 2025 future years defense program.
NATIONAL SECURITY SPACE LAUNCH INFRASTRUCTURE
Access to space remains critical to national security. In
2024, the United States conducted a record high of nearly 150
successful space launches. The Space Force estimates that the
tempo of launches will increase by 25 percent or more over the
next few years. Further, the commercial industry is readying
new and larger heavy-lift launch vehicles to begin regular
operations soon. The limited capacity of the current space
launch range infrastructure, to include processing facilities,
launch pads and related infrastructure, range instrumentation,
communication capabilities, utilities, and roads requires
urgent investment and a long-term strategy to efficiently and
effectively meet the demand and maintain U.S. leadership in
space. Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of the
Air Force to submit to the congressional defense committees,
not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act, with a
long-term strategy, including a plan of action and milestones,
to make investments and modernize U.S. space launch ranges. In
addition, the strategy and plan shall specifically address
Space Force's projected plans for commercial heavy-lift launch
systems, to include what sites it will make available for these
vehicles, and how it intends to ensure a competitive,
transparent, and cost-effective process for supporting
commercial heavy-lift launch systems use of the ranges. The
strategy shall detail a five-year investment plan by fiscal
year to fully implement the strategy. The investment plan shall
include the use of any funds provided in the reconciliation
process for space launch infrastructure.
PROCUREMENT, DEFENSE-WIDE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Procurement, Defense-Wide:
ADVANCED ANTICONVULSANT SYSTEM
The Committee applauds the Joint Program Executive Office
for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense
(JPEO-CBRN) for successfully developing a Food and Drug
Administration approved next generation autoinjector to help
forward deployed personnel effectively respond to chemical
weapons and nerve agent exposure. Moreover, the Committee
recognizes the successful transition from research,
development, test and evaluation with JPEO-CBRN to procurement
through the Defense Logistics Agency. The advanced
anticonvulsant system will have wide-spread use by the
Services, both in training and as an essential piece of
equipment to be carried by forward deployed personnel. As the
recently published 2025 Annual Threat Assessment from the
Director of National Intelligence makes abundantly clear, the
threat of chemical weapons and nerve agents to our service
members is all too real. Accordingly, the Committee supports a
funding level of $42,250,000 for the procurement of the
advanced anticonvulsant system.
DEFENSE SUPPLY CHAIN PACKAGING
The Committee recognizes the critical importance of
protective packaging to ensure the safe transport and storage
of military equipment and goods. Packaging materials and
solutions are specifically tailored based on detailed
calculations for each requirement across the Department's
logistics supply chain. The Committee urges the Secretary of
Defense to prioritize performance, efficiency, damage
avoidance, domestic production, and cost-effective preferences
for protective packaging. Additionally, the Committee urges the
Secretary of Defense to avoid packaging preferences for
alternative or substitute packaging that could result in
increased damage, spoilage, or waste. The Committee directs the
Secretary to provide a combined list of packaging modernization
focus areas for fiscal year 2027 to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees along with the submission of the
President's budget for fiscal year 2027.
INDO-PACIFIC AMMUNITION MANUFACTURING
The Committee is concerned with the lack of a forward
staged ammunition manufacturing facility in the Indo-Pacific.
Therefore, the Committee directs the Department of Defense to
assess, in coordination with the Department of State and the
International Development Finance Corporation, the feasibility
of establishing a joint ammunition manufacturing and storage
facility at United States Naval Base Subic Bay. The facility
would enable the forward staging of ammunition stockpiles and
related materials such as nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and
acid. The Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide
an update on the progress of this feasibility study within 60
days of the enactment of this Act.
DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT PURCHASES
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
the Defense Production Act Purchases:
EXPLANATION OF PROJECT LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
[In thousands of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Committee
2025 Enacted Recommended
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT PURCHASES 463,377 321,923
Biomanufacturing [150,000]
Program increase--domestic black 20,000
powder advanced manufacturing expansion
Program increase--domestic test and 30,000
evaluations for munitions
Program increase--recovery of copper 15,000
from domestic copper smelter slag mills
Program increase--standard missile 3 20,000
block IIA TDACS second source
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT PURCHASES 463,377 321,923
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE EQUIPMENT ACCOUNT
The Committee recommends an appropriation of $800,000,000
for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account. Of that
amount, $250,000,000 is for the Army National Guard;
$235,000,000 is for the Air National Guard; $115,000,000 is for
the Army Reserve; $46,000,000 is for the Navy Reserve;
$22,000,000 is for the Marine Corps Reserve; and $132,000,000
is for the Air Force Reserve to meet urgent equipment needs.
This funding will allow the National Guard and Reserve
components to procure high priority equipment used by these
components for both their military missions and missions in
support of State governors. The funding within this account is
not to be used to procure equipment designated as high-density
critical equipment, major weapon systems, aircraft, and other
equipment central to a unit's ability to perform its doctrinal
mission. The funding within this account is not to be used to
procure equipment purchased by the senior Service, to expand or
accelerate current Service procurement plans, to purchase
expendable items, or to purchase facilities or equipment for
any requirement able to be satisfied elsewhere.
The Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure
that the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account is
executed by the Chiefs of the National Guard and Reserve
components with priority consideration given to the following
items: acoustic hailing devices; aircraft survivability
equipment and weapons training aids; aviation status
dashboards; cloud defense solutions; controlled humidity
preservation; crash-survivable UH-60 helicopter gunner seats;
degraded visual environment systems; emergency response refuel
equipment kits for C-130/135 aircraft; heavy dump trucks; high
mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle modernization; improved
thermal acoustic blankets; internal auxiliary crashworthy,
ballistically tolerant auxiliary fuel systems for UH-60
helicopters; KC-135 aircrew ground cooling units; land survey
systems; lightweight, rapidly deployable, computer-based
artillery call for fire training and simulation; litter
stabilization systems; modular small arms ranges and small arms
training simulators and tools; NSA compliant, multiple network
configurable, secure tactical voice bridge; secure enterprise,
emergency, and social communication; software defined radios;
UH-72 Lakota mission equipment modernization; upgraded
commercial off the shelf ground mapping for C-130 aircraft; and
vehicle-mounted, man-portable radiological nuclear detection
systems.
TITLE IV
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION
The fiscal year 2026 research, development, test and
evaluation budget Committee recommendation is summarized in the
table below:
REPROGRAMMING GUIDANCE FOR ACQUISITION ACCOUNTS
The Secretary of Defense is directed to continue to follow
the reprogramming guidance as specified in the report
accompanying the House version of the Department of Defense
Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008 (House Report 110-
279). Specifically, the dollar threshold for reprogramming
funds shall be $15,000,000 for procurement and research,
development, test and evaluation.
Also, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) is
directed to continue to provide the congressional defense
committees quarterly, spreadsheet-based DD Form 1416 reports
for Service and defense-wide accounts in titles III and IV of
this Act. Reports for titles III and IV shall comply with the
guidance specified in the explanatory statement accompanying
the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006. The
Department shall continue to follow the limitation that prior
approval reprogramming actions are set at either the specified
dollar threshold or 20 percent of the procurement or research,
development, test and evaluation line, whichever is less. These
thresholds are cumulative from the base for reprogramming value
as modified by any adjustments. Therefore, if the combined
value of transfers into or out of a procurement (P-1) or
research, development, test and evaluation (R-1) line exceeds
the identified threshold, the Secretary of Defense must submit
a prior approval reprogramming to the congressional defense
committees. In addition, guidelines on the application of prior
approval reprogramming procedures for congressional special
interest items are established elsewhere in this report.
FUNDING INCREASES
The funding increases outlined in these tables shall be
provided only for the specific purposes indicated in the
tables.
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS
Items for which additional funds have been recommended or
items for which funding is specifically reduced as shown in the
project level tables detailing recommended adjustments or in
paragraphs using the phrase ``only for'' or ``only to'' in this
report are congressional special interest items for the purpose
of the Base for Reprogramming (DD Form 1414). Each of these
items must be carried on the DD Form 1414 at the stated amount,
as specifically addressed elsewhere in this report.
LONG ENDURANCE AIRCRAFT
The Committee is aware of similar efforts by the Air Force
and U.S. Special Operations Command to develop a capability to
meet unmanned long range, long endurance intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance mission needs. While the
requirements between the two organizations are not completely
aligned, the Committee believes closer cooperation is critical
to fielding a capable and cost-effective platform. The
Committee recommendation includes $15,000,000 in Air Force
Research, Development, Test & Evaluation to pursue this
objective. Further, the Committee directs the Secretary of the
Air Force, in cooperation with the Commander, U.S. Special
Operations Command, to provide a briefing to the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees not later than 90 days after
enactment of this Act, on plans to develop and procure an
unmanned long endurance platform, including defined
requirements for this capability and whether efficiencies and
operational alignment may be realized by pursuing a common
platform.
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION, ARMY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Army:
JOINT READINESS TRAINING CENTER CATALYST PATHFINDER LAB
The Committee recognizes the strategic and training value
that the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson
provides the Army in preparing soldiers for multi-domain
operations and developing next-generation warfighting
capabilities. To enhance its role, the Committee encourages the
Secretary of the Army to leverage the JRTC as a Catalyst
Pathfinder Lab in collaboration with regional academic
institutions.
In addition, the Committee directs the Secretary of the
Army to provide a report to the House and Senate Defense
Appropriations Committees, not later than 90 days after the
enactment of this Act, on efforts to establish and expand
partnerships between the Joint Readiness Training Center and
regional academic institutions. The report shall identify
potential collaborative research focus areas aligned to
capability-based requirements, and funding requirements
associated with such efforts.
VAS AI/ML OPTIMIZATION PROGRAM
Modern combat requires visual superiority without cognitive
burden. Sophisticated Visual Augmentation Systems (VAS),
designed with artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)
optimization, eliminate the need for on-the-fly manual
adjustments, allowing operators to stay mission-focused under
demanding conditions. Therefore, the Committee supports and
encourages the Department of the Army to review AI/ML augmented
imaging and signal processing for visual augmentation systems.
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION, NAVY
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy:
NAVAL TELEPHONY MODERNIZATION TO REDUCE MOUNTING TECHNICAL DEBT
As the Navy evaluates options to modernize its legacy Time
Division Multiplexing (TDM)-based telephony infrastructure and
migrate to secure, scalable, and redundant IP-based
technologies, the Committee recognizes the critical importance
of this initiative in improving the Department of Defense's
(DoD) overall network performance, security, resilience,
redundancy, user experience, and cost. The Committee encourages
the Navy to promptly execute this modernization initiative. The
Committee views this as essential to enhancing the security
posture through modernization to DoD security standards,
maintaining operational readiness through improved network
resiliency and survivability, driving cost efficiencies through
infrastructure consolidation and transport unification, and
complying with DoD CIO modernization requirements in the June
21, 2024 memorandum, ``Technical Debt Reduction in the DOD
Information Network.''
MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGIES SUPPORTING OPERATIONAL READINESS
The Committee supports the development and application of
critical maintenance technologies across the areas of shipboard
repair, material availability, and inspection. Through the
application of automated tooling, advanced manufacturing,
augmented or virtual reality and improved inspection
technologies, it is imperative that the Navy's investments in
maintenance technologies keep pace with the developments made
in commercial production lines and repair facilities.
Therefore, the Committee encourages the Secretary of the Navy
to ensure that sufficient investment is made to advance remote
support capabilities, streamline maintenance processes, and
enhance operational readiness across the Navy.
RAPID ADVANCED DEPOSITION
The Committee strongly supports the development of the
Rapid Advanced Deposition research that will allow for the
reliable and consistent rapid production of additive
manufactured produced parts and materials developed in support
of the warfighter.
COASTAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
The Committee understands the importance of the littoral
region to Navy operations worldwide and believes that testing
and training must take place at secured research and
development, and test and evaluation facilities and replicate
the operational and threat environments that U.S. Navy assets
are likely to encounter. Research is needed to study seabed
phenomenology and develop technologies for continuous
monitoring and detection of encroachment threats to reduce
seabed vulnerabilities at or near U.S. Navy critical ocean test
and evaluation facilities. The Committee believes that
additional research on the underwater signatures and ocean
hydrodynamics in the littoral regions and the development of
predictive techniques to ensure stealth superiority would be
beneficial for naval operations. The Committee encourages the
Navy to conduct additional research in this area.
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION, AIR FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
AIR FORCE RESOURCE ALLOCATION
The Committee believes that historical Air Force resource
allocation processes and practices have not been optimized for
planning, programming, and budgeting for requirements across
capability groups. The Committee also shares the Air Force's
assessment that the status quo will not provide the airpower
necessary for future high-end conflicts.
The Committee recommendation includes substantial funding
for efforts that will continue to require considerable
investment, including the B-21 Raider, the Next Generation Air
Dominance Family of Systems, along with other air platforms.
The Committee notes that it is awaiting an updated timeline and
details of a rephased funding profile for the Ground Based
Strategic Deterrent following the programs' Nunn-McCurdy
breach. With these endeavors, along with the development and
implementation of the Air Force's force design, the Committee
strongly believes a healthier resource allocation process will
hinge upon the Air Force's ability to more realistically
identify and prioritize capabilities required for successful
Air Force and joint missions.
For this reason, the Committee is particularly interested
in the formation of the Integrated Capabilities Command,
Integrated Capabilities Office, and the Integrated Development
Office to meet the desired end state of defining future Air
Force needs, developing modernization plans, ensuring technical
feasibility, and executing realistic acquisitions to meet the
needs of the warfighter. To maintain oversight of these
developing organizations, the Committee directs the Secretary
of the Air Force to provide a briefing not later than 90 days
after enactment of this Act, to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees on the status of these organizations,
to include phasing of associated reorganization along with cost
estimates to implement each phase; a proposed laydown of new
offices, commands, or centers, and whether the strategic basing
process is required for their establishment; a description of
impacts to military and civilians positions by location; and
the programmatic impacts of such decisions. The Committee
further directs the Director of the Integrated Development
Office and the Commander of the Integrated Capabilities Command
to jointly provide semi-annual briefings to the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees on how each is working to
achieve strategic modernization, recapitalization, and
resourcing for the Air Force.
SENTINEL
The Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program was
provided $3,197,024,000 in the enacted fiscal year 2025 bill.
Section 1422 of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and
Extensions Act, 2025 (Public Law 119-4) directed the Department
of Defense to consult with the Committee in preparing a
spending plan for implementing the fiscal year 2025 enacted
amounts. The spend plan submitted by the Air Force reduced the
GBSD budget by an additional $1,191,00,000, leaving the program
$2,006,044,000 for fiscal year 2025. An adjustment of this
magnitude should have been accompanied by proactive
communications including robust details on a rephasing plan.
The Committee notes that many of these details remain
outstanding.
The Committee recommends for GBSD in fiscal year 2026
$2,031,551,000 and understands additional funds may be
available through reconciliation. Given significant cost
changes projected for this effort, the Secretary of the Air
Force is directed to provide an update as soon as possible on
the current status of the replan, including robust details and
associated spending plans. Further, the Committee directs that
the Secretary of the Air Force continue providing quarterly
briefings on the program to the congressional defense
committees. The briefings shall include obligation and
expenditure data, updated plans for the program, interim
schedules, and updated benchmarks, milestones, and defense
industrial base requirements to achieve a fully Integrated
Master Schedule.
NEXT GENERATION AIR DOMINANCE
The Committee is pleased that in March 2025 the Air Force
down-selected and awarded a contract for the F-47, Next
Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform. The Committee
recommendation includes $3,194,315,000 in Research,
Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force for this sixth-
generation fighter platform in fiscal year 2026.
The Committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force to
provide the congressional defense committees quarterly
briefings, beginning the quarter following the enactment of
this Act, on the status of the NGAD program. These briefings
shall provide programmatic updates on schedule and funding.
COLLABORATIVE COMBAT AIRCRAFT
The Committee notes persistent concern that in prior years'
budget requests the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD)
funding line included funding for the Collaborative Combat
Aircraft (CCA) program. The comingling of two significant
acquisition programs limited Congress' ability to track how
funding was allocated between NGAD and CCA efforts within the
year-of-execution. In order to ensure visibility into cost and
performance, and to clearly trace execution of appropriations,
the project level adjustment tables that accompanied Division
A, Title IV, for the Department of Defense, Full-Year
Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (Public Law
119-4) moved the CCA budget program activity into a separate
and distinct line from NGAD. The Committee recommendation for
fiscal year 2026 includes $494,896,000 for CCA and understands
that additional resources may be made available through
reconciliation.
The Committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force to
provide the congressional defense committees quarterly
briefings, beginning the quarter following the enactment of
this Act, on the status of the CCA program. These briefings
shall provide programmatic updates on schedule and funding.
B-52 HIGH FIDELITY SIMULATOR MODERNIZATION
The Committee notes that the Air Force has not sufficiently
invested in modernizing B-52 flight simulators. The Committee
is aware that the high cost of live flight training and
associated maintenance and sustainment activities would be
offset by capabilities available by training in a high-fidelity
simulator. The Committee recommendation includes $26,200,000
for the Air Force to collect, analyze and prepare flight
simulation and modeling for the B-52H flight data model. This
funding also provides for associated engineering of new high-
fidelity devices and weapons training systems. Further, the
Committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force to submit a
report to the congressional defense committees, not later than
90 days following enactment of this Act, that provides a
strategy to develop, test, and procure modernized B-52H high
fidelity flight simulators. This report shall include, by
fiscal year, a cost estimate by appropriation, budget line
item, to procure B-52H high fidelity flight simulators.
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION, SPACE FORCE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Space Force:
SPACE FORCE ACQUISITION
Space capabilities are increasingly indispensable to
national security. National leadership, combatant commands, and
the intelligence community rely on space to provide real-time
global situational awareness. Space also provides the
communications, navigation, and sensing capabilities that
enable the United States to project military power on a global
scale and, if necessary, to prevail in conflict. In fact, much
of the force structure across the other services are designed
and sized to rely on space to communicate, navigate and operate
with precision, speed, and accuracy. Without space
capabilities, we would need many more bombs, bullets, tanks,
ships, and planes. Reliable and resilient space capabilities
are essential. However, unlike any other military service the
vast majority of the Space Force's budget is dedicated to
acquisition, a trend that is expected to increase, especially
to support Golden Dome. Therefore, expertise in space
technology and systems engineering and what it enables for
space operations are critical core skills for Space Force
Guardians and civilians. Senior leaders must focus more
attention on developing and promoting Guardians with technical
expertise and acquisition experience. To this end, the
Committee has directed the Secretary of Defense, as described
in the front matter of this report, to propose a plan for a
pilot program in the Space Force to organize its programs and
people by mission area and to require those assigned to each
mission area to serve for substantially longer tours of service
in order to develop and build the technical skills commensurate
with the acquisition and program management challenges they
face. The objective is to build technical competency through
real-world experience and greater depth and breadth of
experience to better prepare program managers and leaders to
make wise decisions in managing and delivering the capabilities
the warfighter needs.
FIXED PRICE CONTRACTING
The Committee notes that in recent years the Space Force
has been more willing to challenge old ways of doing business
and has been more open to taking technical and contracting
risks to deliver more innovative solutions from a broader range
of suppliers. The Committee supports this progress. However,
the Committee is concerned that too much emphasis has been put
on the use of fixed price contracts when a program is in the
early phase of development with significant unknowns and high
technical risks. While fixed price contracts are appealing from
a budget perspective, they are not a panacea and can lead to
inappropriate incentives and even suppress risk taking and
innovation. To be clear, fixed price contracts are an excellent
approach when cost, technical risk and other factors are well
known, such as in production runs of the same or very similar
units. The Committee will be very skeptical of contracting
strategies that rely on fixed price contracts for first
articles of new systems or on high-risk developments. The
Committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force through the
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and
Integration to continue to provide monthly updates to the House
and Senate Defense Appropriations Committees on the technical,
cost, and schedule status of ongoing acquisition programs.
RESILIENT POSITION NAVIGATION AND TIMING (PNT)
The Committee recognizes the vital importance of enhancing
the resilience of position, navigation, and timing (PNT)
services provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS) to
ensure its availability for military operations, particularly
in highly contested environments against sophisticated
adversaries. The Committee also recognizes that GPS has become
a critical component of our nation's infrastructure affecting
commerce, transportation, energy distribution, and agriculture.
The loss of GPS, even temporarily, would cause catastrophic
damage to the nation while also severely impacting military
effectiveness. The Committee recommendation provides
$15,000,000 to continue the development of resilient GPS space
systems. However, the Committee is very disappointed that the
Department of Defense has not taken any significant actions to
address the findings and recommendations of the Defense Science
Board's (DSB) May 2024 classified final report on Position,
Navigation and Timing, which highlights many, but not all, the
issues that must be addressed to make PNT services more
resilient, such as accelerating the delivery of jam resistant
user equipment and increasing resilience of the ground control
segment. Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of
Defense to provide the congressional defense committees, not
later than 90 days after enactment of this Act, with a
comprehensive written plan of action and milestones for
investments in more resilient capabilities across space,
ground, and user equipment segments. This plan shall
specifically address each of the findings and recommendations
of the DSB report, as well as provide investments by Service
and Agency and by fiscal year.
STRATEGIC SATCOM ACQUISITION
The Space Force is responsible for delivering several
systems that are critical to the nation's strategic deterrent
and nuclear capability, including the Evolved Strategic
Satellite Communications (ESS) program. As the critical assured
communications system for senior leadership to carry out orders
for nuclear command and control, the acquisition of the ESS is
of utmost importance and must be done with deep rigor and in
close coordination across the other elements of the Nuclear
Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) enterprise. The
Committee is concerned that the Space Force is considering
using middle-tier acquisition authorities (MTA) rather than
implementing the program as a major defense acquisition program
for the development and acquisition of ESS. MTA authorities are
for rapid prototyping and rapid fielding of new types of
capabilities and are not an appropriate pathway for a program
of the cost, complexity, and criticality to national security
as the ESS system. Therefore, the Committee directs the Under
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in
consultation with the Director, Cost Assessment and Program
Evaluation, to review the Space Force acquisition strategy for
ESS and make a recommendation to the House and Senate Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee, not later than 90 days after
enactment of this Act, on an appropriate path forward that is
most likely to lead to mission success.
NEXT GENERATION OVERHEAD PERSISTENT INFRARED
The Committee continues to strongly support the pivot to
proliferated missile warning/missile tracking systems in low-
Earth orbit and medium-Earth orbit, as these systems will
provide greater resilience and coverage for tactical use.
However, these systems, and their associated ground processing
systems are not designed to meet the strategic indications and
warning requirements of the Nuclear Command, Control, and
Communications (NC3) enterprise. Given the lack of a clear plan
to meet strategic NC3 requirements after the current legacy
Space-Based Infrared systems age out, the Committee directs the
Secretary of the Air Force to re-examine plans to curtail the
current Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared systems
for geosynchronous and polar orbits and address the need for
additional spacecraft and updated ground systems to meet
validated national security needs. The Secretary of the Air
Force shall provide a report to the House and Senate Defense
Appropriations Committees with findings and recommendations on
the future of strategic systems to meet NC3 requirements not
later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act.
TACTICAL SURVEILLANCE, RECONNAISSANCE, AND TRACKING
The Committee recognizes the increasingly broad range of
high-quality commercial data available to support Space Force
missions, especially space domain awareness. The Committee
notes that Space Force has not requested funding for Tactical
Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking (TacSRT) in previous
budget requests and is concerned that funding the project
solely through congressional increases does not enable the
project to plan beyond the year of execution. Therefore, the
Committee directs the Director of Cost Assessment and Program
Evaluation (CAPE) to review the program, its mission use cases
and objectives, and its contracting mechanisms; identify and
make recommendations for the pilot project's organization, its
operations, and its use of contracts with commercial vendors;
and identify and make recommendations. The Director of CAPE
shall provide a briefing with the findings and recommendations
of this review to the congressional defense and congressional
intelligence committees not later than 180 days after the
enactment of this Act.
Further, the Committee notes the recently signed memorandum
of agreement between the Space Force and the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and directs the Space
Force to continue to coordinate and collaborate with the
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) on the TacSRT
pilot project. The Director of NGA is directed to continue to
provide a semiannual assessment of the TacSRT pilot program to
the congressional defense committees and congressional
intelligence committees.
QUARTERLY REPORTS
The Committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force to
continue to provide quarterly briefings on the status of its
missile warning and missile tracking programs, to include the
Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared programs, and the
Resilient Missile Warning-Missile Tracking Medium-Earth Orbit
and Low-Earth Orbit programs.
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION, DEFENSE-WIDE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide:
CYBERSECURITY OF WEAPONS PLATFORMS
The Committee is concerned about potential cyber
vulnerabilities of Department of Defense weapon system
platforms, especially fielded platforms with outdated and
unmonitored electronic systems and data buses. The lack of
real-world data to perform on-board monitoring leaves gaps in
understanding the full extent of the threat environment.
Therefore, the Committee recommendation includes $10,000,000 in
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide for
real-time monitoring of weapons systems cybersecurity to
implement on-board, near real-time, monitoring capabilities on
high priority weapon system platforms.
ARMSTRONG TEST FACILITY
The Committee is closely monitoring the progress of the
Department's programs regarding hypersonic weapons, satellites,
space vehicles, and other national security space developments.
The Committee is aware of the assistance that the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Neil Armstrong
Test Facility (ATF) has provided to the Department on research
and development programs in these areas and encourages the
Department to assist NASA in providing the ATF with cyber
security, physical security, and other necessary upgrades that
will allow the Department continued access to ATF's world-class
space, aeronautics, and hypersonic assets.
ALL-DOMAIN ANOMALY RESOLUTION OFFICE
The Committee recognizes the importance of the All-domain
Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in providing the Congress and
the public with transparency and improved understanding of
unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). The Committee continues
to support AARO and its mission to improve national security
and public understanding of UAP data through a rigorous
scientific framework and data-driven approach.
FACILITIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS OF RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
The Committee recognizes the Department's effort to
identify new mechanisms that reduce administrative burdens,
increase transparency, and save taxpayer dollars. We encourage
the Department to work closely with the extramural research
community to develop an optimized Facilities and Administrative
(F&A) cost reimbursement solution for all parties that ensures
the nation remains a world leader in innovation.
INDOOR AIR QUALITY AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FACILITIES
The Committee encourages the Department to conduct studies
on how indoor air quality impacts pathogen transmission and the
health of our military personnel. Such studies may include
increased use of outdoor air ventilation, high-efficiency
particulate air (HEPA) filtration, and germicidal ultraviolet
(GUV) light.
OPERATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION, DEFENSE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Operational Test and Evaluation, Defense:
TEST AND EVALUATION ACTIVITIES
The Committee notes the Director of Operational Test and
Evaluation (DOTE) Strategy Implementation Plan consisted of
five strategic pillars that sought to ``collaboratively and
cooperatively transform the Department's infrastructure, tools,
processes, and workforce.'' Additionally, since the
implementation plan was published, a Task Force on Test and
Evaluation supported approaches outlined in the strategy and
implementation plan, including reimagining a mission-focused
approach to test and evaluation activities (``test the way we
fight''), leveraging commercial technologies and best
practices, as well as enhancing the use of digital engineering.
The Committee notes DOTE authored a manual on Modeling and
Simulation (M&S) Verification, Validation, and Accreditation
(VV&A), ensuring digital engineering tools effectively support
the evaluation process. The Committee commends DOTE for early
recognition that a transformation in operational test
activities would be needed to meet the accelerating pace of
technological adoption, including the use of digital twins and
cloud-at-the-edge computing.
Although digital engineering offers immense potential to
early and continuous test--retest activities, digital
engineering will not replace the need for live testing.
Furthermore, it is widely understood that there is increasing
need for independent operational test and evaluation activities
required for cyber and electromagnetic realms. The Committee is
concerned that the Department is reorganizing the Office of the
Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, which includes
significant reduction-in-force (RIF), at a time when the test
and evaluation community is transforming to support
unprecedented production and fielding requirements.
Therefore, the Secretary of Defense is directed to, not
later than 30 days after the enactment of this Act, submit a
detailed report and provide a briefing, to the congressional
defense committees, detailing the impacts to operational test
activities currently underway, the list of discontinued
activities, and the list of activities that will continue.
Additionally, the report should include a detailed plan for how
the Department intends to meet the demand for independent test
and evaluation, and validating new capabilities expected to
come online in the Future Years Defense Program.
TITLE V
REVOLVING AND MANAGEMENT FUNDS
DEFENSE WORKING CAPITAL FUNDS
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
the Defense Working Capital Funds accounts:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
NATIONAL DEFENSE STOCKPILE TRANSACTION FUND
The Committee recommends an appropriation of $5,700,000 for
the National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund.
TITLE VI
OTHER DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROGRAMS
DEFENSE HEALTH PROGRAM
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
the Defense Health Program:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
REPROGRAMMING GUIDANCE FOR THE DEFENSE HEALTH PROGRAM
The Act includes a general provision which caps the funds
available for Private Sector Care under the TRICARE program
subject to prior approval reprogramming procedures. The general
provision and accompanying report language should not be
interpreted as limiting the amount of funds that may be
transferred to the In-House Care budget sub-activity from other
budget sub-activities within the Defense Health Program. In
addition, funding for the In-House Care and Private Sector Care
budget sub-activities are designated as congressional special
interest items. Any transfer of funds in excess of $15,000,000
into or out of these sub-activities requires the Secretary of
Defense to follow prior approval reprogramming procedures for
operation and maintenance funds.
The Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide
written notification to the congressional defense committees of
cumulative transfers in excess of $15,000,000 out of the
Private Sector Care budget sub-activity not later than 15 days
after such a transfer. Furthermore, the Committee directs the
Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the congressional
defense committees, not later than 30 days after the enactment
of this Act, that delineates transfers of funds, and the dates
any transfers occurred, from the Private Sector Care budget
sub-activity to any other budget sub-activity.
Additionally, the Committee remains concerned with funding
for Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization
(FSRM) being repurposed throughout the fiscal year. Deferring
FSRM in favor of more immediate needs of the Defense Health
Program may seem prudent at the time but comes with costly,
severe, and enduring ramifications. For this reason, the
Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide written
notification to the congressional defense committees of
cumulative transfers in excess of $15,000,000 out of the Base
Operations and Communications budget sub-activity not later
than 15 days after such a transfer.
The Committee further directs the Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Health Affairs to provide quarterly briefings to
the congressional defense committees, not later than 30 days
after the end of each fiscal quarter, on budget execution data
for all Defense Health Program budget activities, and to
adequately reflect changes to the budget activities requested
by the Services in future budget submissions. These reports
shall also be provided to the Government Accountability Office.
CARRYOVER
For fiscal year 2026, the Committee recommends one percent
carryover authority for the operation and maintenance account
of the Defense Health Program. The Committee directs the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs to submit a
detailed spending plan for any fiscal year 2025 designated
carryover funds to the congressional defense committees not
less than 30 days prior to executing the carryover funds.
MILITARY MEDICAL MANPOWER
The Committee remains concerned that the Department's
handling of military medical billet reductions, in response to
the reforms mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2017, has negatively impacted access to quality
healthcare services for servicemembers and their beneficiaries,
particularly in areas deemed high risk and health shortage
areas by the Department of Health and Human Services.
In addition, the Committee continues to direct the
Services' Surgeons General to submit vacancy rates by
occupational code to the congressional defense committees on a
quarterly basis and further directs the Director of the Defense
Health Agency (DHA) to submit vacancy rates among military and
civilian medical personnel by location and specialty to the
congressional defense committees on a quarterly basis.
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS
The Committee continues to support efforts the Department
of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have
undertaken with regard to electronic health records and the
health record system. It is the Committee's ongoing expectation
that the Departments' electronic health record systems will be
interoperable with seamless compatibility. The Committee
directs the Director of the Federal Electronic Health Record
Modernization (FEHRM) program office to continue to submit
quarterly reports on the progress of interoperability between
the two Departments to the House and Senate Defense
Appropriations Subcommittees and the House and Senate Military
Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Subcommittees.
The Program Executive Officer of Defense Healthcare
Management Systems (PEO DHMS), in conjunction with the Director
of the FEHRM and the Director of the Defense Health Agency, is
directed to submit quarterly reports to the congressional
defense committees on the cost of the program, including any
indirect costs funded outside of the DHMS Modernization
Electronic Health Record program; and the schedule of the
program, to include milestones, knowledge points, and
acquisition timelines, as well as quarterly obligations. In
addition, the Committee directs the PEO DHMS to continue to
brief the House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittees
on a quarterly basis, coinciding with the report submission.
The Department of Defense's electronic health record
system, MHS GENSIS, completed full deployment and is
transitioning into the Capability Support phase focused on end
user experience. The Committee directs the Comptroller General
to continue quarterly performance reviews of MHS GENESIS with a
focus on whether the program is meeting expected cost,
schedule, scope, quality, and risk mitigation expectations, to
include system enhancements, and expects the PEO DHMS will
provide the Comptroller General regular and in-depth access to
the program to facilitate these reviews.
MEDICAL RESEARCH
The Committee continues to monitor the transition of
medical research conducted by the U.S. Army Medical Research
and Materiel Command to the Defense Health Agency Research and
Development organization to ensure that core medical research
funding is responsive to the needs of servicemembers.
Additionally, the Committee recommendation for fiscal year 2026
includes $700,000,000 for the Congressionally Directed Medical
Research Programs (CDMRP) to fund high-risk, high-reward
medical research. The Committee directs the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Health Affairs to submit to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees a request for prior approval for any
changes in management structure; functional alignment; or the
two-tiered, peer-reviewed process proposed for the CDMRP
program, not less than 30 days prior to any proposed changes
taking place.
Additionally, the Committee continues to support the use of
agile contracting methods, such as other transaction
agreements, that may help mitigate the impacts on medical
readiness through public-private partnerships and encourages
the Department to continue to leverage these mechanisms to
ensure expeditious delivery of medical solutions.
PEER-REVIEWED CANCER RESEARCH PROGRAM
The Committee recommends $130,000,000 for the peer-reviewed
breast cancer research program, $75,000,000 for the peer-
reviewed prostate cancer research program, $15,000,000 for the
peer-reviewed kidney cancer research program, $45,000,000 for
the peer-reviewed ovarian cancer research program, $15,000,000
for the peer-reviewed lung cancer research program, $17,500,000
for the peer-reviewed rare cancers research program,
$15,000,000 for the peer-reviewed pancreatic cancer research
program, and $180,000,000 for the peer-reviewed cancer research
program that would research cancers not addressed in the
aforementioned programs currently executed by the Department of
Defense.
The funds provided in the peer-reviewed cancer research
program are directed to be used to conduct research in the
following areas: bladder cancer; blood cancers; brain cancer
(including glioblastoma); colorectal cancer; endometrial
cancer; esophageal cancer; germ cell cancers; liver cancer;
lymphoma; metastatic cancers; melanoma and other skin cancers;
myeloma; neuroblastoma; pediatric brain tumors; pediatric,
adolescent, and young adult cancers; sarcoma; stomach cancer;
and thyroid cancer. The inclusion of the individual rare
cancers research program shall not prohibit the peer-reviewed
cancer research program from funding the previously mentioned
cancers or cancer subtypes that may be rare by definition.
The funds provided under the peer-reviewed cancer research
program shall be used only for the purposes listed above. The
Committee directs the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health
Affairs to submit a report, not later than 180 days after the
enactment of this Act, to the congressional defense committees
on the status of the peer-reviewed cancer research program. For
each research area, the report shall include the funding amount
awarded, the progress of the research, and the relevance of the
research to servicemembers and their families.
The Committee commends the Department of Defense for
ensuring that projects funded through the various peer-reviewed
cancer research programs maintain a focus on issues of
significance to military populations and the warfighter. This
includes promoting collaborative research proposals between
Department of Defense researchers and non-military research
institutions. These collaborations leverage the knowledge,
infrastructure, and access to clinical populations that the
partners bring to the research effort. Additionally, promoting
these collaborations provides a valuable recruitment and
retention incentive for military medical and research
personnel. The Committee encourages the Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Health Affairs to continue to emphasize the
importance of these collaborations between military and non-
military researchers throughout the peer-review process.
PEER-REVIEWED ALS RESEARCH PROGRAM
The Committee notes that there is a well-documented
correlation between military service and the development of
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Servicemembers are twice
as likely to develop ALS as the general population, although
the etiology of ALS and its linkage to military service remains
largely unknown. Therefore, the Committee recommendation
includes $40,000,000 for the peer-reviewed ALS research
program, and encourages the Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Health Affairs to prioritize research that can bring effective
treatments to people living with ALS as soon as possible.
PEER-REVIEWED TOXIC EXPOSURES RESEARCH PROGRAM
The Committee is concerned by the number of known and
unknown toxins servicemembers are exposed to as part of their
military service. The Committee remains committed to veterans
affected by Gulf War Illness and acknowledges a commonality
between this community and others exposed to substances,
including burn pit exposure, that result in multiple, diverse
symptoms and health abnormalities. Therefore, the Committee
recommends $15,000,000 for the peer-reviewed toxic exposures
research program. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health
Affairs is directed to select research projects of clear
scientific merit and direct relevance to military exposures to
toxic substances, including toxic industrial chemicals,
materials, metals, and minerals. The inclusion of the toxic
exposures research program shall not prohibit research in any
other congressionally directed research program that may be
associated with conditions or health abnormalities linked to
toxic exposures.
As with other research programs, the Committee expects
projects funded through the peer-reviewed toxic exposures
research program to maintain a focus on issues of significance
to military populations and the warfighter and that the program
shall promote collaborative research proposals between
Department of Defense researchers and non-military research
institutions.
PEER-REVIEWED ARTHRITIS RESEARCH
The Committee remains concerned by the detrimental impact
of arthritis on servicemembers and notes its impact on
retention. Therefore, the Committee recommendation includes
$10,000,000 for the peer-reviewed arthritis research program.
Funding provided in the peer-reviewed arthritis research
program shall be used to conduct research on all forms of
arthritis including osteoarthritis, posttraumatic arthritis,
and rheumatoid arthritis. Further, arthritis research shall not
be provided for in other peer-reviewed research programs, and
the inclusion of the peer-reviewed arthritis research program
shall not prohibit research in any other congressionally
directed research program that may be associated with
conditions or health abnormalities related to arthritis.
ADVANCED ORTHOPEDIC SURGICAL TRAINING FOR MILITARY ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS
The Committee recognizes the importance of utilizing
partnerships with public, private, and non-profit organizations
and institutions to provide short-term specialized medical
training to advance arthroscopic surgical skills and
capabilities of military medical providers. Delivery of direct
training based on best practices related to orthopedic
procedures not only increases the proficiency of military
orthopedic health professionals to improve quality of care and
address readiness issues related to musculoskeletal injuries,
but also may lead to higher rates of retention among military
medical providers.
To address these gaps, Congress has previously appropriated
resources beginning in fiscal year 2019 to develop military-
civilian partnerships to ensure military orthopedic health
professionals are provided with advanced surgical training in,
and best practices related to, arthroscopic surgery and
techniques. Therefore, the Committee directs the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs to submit a report to
the congressional defense committees, not later than 90 days
after the enactment of this Act, that outlines a set of metrics
to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Further, the
Committee directs the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health
Affairs to submit a report to the congressional defense
committees, not later than 180 days after enactment of this
Act, that includes a list of entities the Department has
established partnerships with under the program, and an
assessment of the effectiveness of the program based on
physical health assessment data including questions related to
the electronic physical health assessment survey, physical
readiness test data, and postoperative survey data collected
after musculoskeletal intervention.
NON-ADDICTIVE OPIOID ALTERNATIVES
The Committee is concerned about the continued use of
opioids in the military for the treatment of pain. The
Committee encourages the Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Health Affairs to facilitate inclusion of Food and Drug
Administration approved, non-addictive alternatives to opioids
on the formulary. In addition, the Committee supports efforts
of the Department to promote and increase the utilization of
such treatments.
BLOOD PRODUCTS DEVELOPMENT
The Committee is concerned of the potential impact to
readiness and military heath care operations resulting from a
lack of quality blood products and supply. The Committee notes
the military's dependency on civilian blood donations to
maintain an adequate supply of blood and blood products, and
encourages the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health
Affairs and the Director of the Defense Health Agency to
explore the adoption of innovative blood products with
increased shelf life and broadened storage parameters, such as
freeze-dried platelet-derived hemostatic products, and enable
such use throughout the continuum of care.
TRICARE-5 TRANSITION
The Committee recognizes there have been widely reported
issues impacting beneficiary experience and beneficiary health
coverage, including significant delays in customer service
response times and provider reimbursement requests as part of
the transition to the TRICARE T-5 contract. Therefore, the
Committee directs the Director of the Defense Health Agency to
provide a briefing to the congressional defense committees, not
later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act, detailing
the actions the Defense Health Agency, and the two regional T-5
Managed Care Support Contractors, have taken to improve patient
experience, minimize delays in customer service response times,
and review and approve provider reimbursement requests.
ROUTINE MONITORING OF PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS
The Committee notes the importance of mental health
screening during the perinatal period in identifying potential
mental health conditions during and after pregnancy that may
increase the risk of maternal death.
The Committee encourages the Director of the Defense Health
Agency to educate providers and TRICARE beneficiaries on the
importance and availability of perinatal mental health
screenings, develop and implement a process to routinely
monitor the frequency of perinatal mental health screenings in
direct and private care settings, and establish corrective
actions for improvement to prevent undiagnosed and untreated
mental health conditions.
MATERNAL HEALTH PROVIDER SUPPORT
The Committee remains concerned about the shortage of
current and prospective maternal health care professionals for
servicemembers and their families, particularly obstetrician/
gynecologists and midwives. Therefore, the Committee encourages
the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs to seek
avenues to expand the number of maternal health-related
scholarships granted by the Health Professions Scholarship
Program.
METASTATIC CANCER RESEARCH
Existing research suggests a genetic basis for
susceptibility to metastatic cancer or resistance to
metastasis. However, the Committee believes more research and
data are required to develop a comprehensive understanding of
this complex process. Clinical trials are an important aspect
of that process, and a diverse representation of patients in
clinical trials is integral to the development of medications
and therapies that effectively treat disease.
Therefore, the Committee encourages the Director of the
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs to continue
to partner with outside experts and other federal agencies to
implement recommendations from the April 2018 Metastatic Cancer
Task Force Report to Congress concerning diverse enrollments in
clinical trials. In addition, the Committee directs the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs to provide a
briefing to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, not
later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, on the
progress of implementing recommendations contained in the April
2018 report.
ADVANCED OPERATIONAL MEDICAL READINESS REQUIREMENTS
The Committee recognizes the importance of integrated,
interoperable, and mobile life-support and critical care
capabilities for effective deployed battlefield medicine and
enroute care across domains. To meet operational medical
readiness requirements, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Health Affairs must prioritize the use of equipment that
addresses resupply and evacuation-constrained forward
scenarios, and operational medical logistic limitations such as
reliable oxygen sources, theater-controlled substances and cold
chain items. Therefore, the Committee directs the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, in coordination with
the Director of the Defense Health Agency and the Services'
Surgeons Generals, to provide a briefing to the congressional
defense committees on an implementation plan that shall
identify potential equipment for procurement, educational
training programs, and sustainment requirements.
PREVENTING DEADLY AND COSTLY RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS IN MILITARY
TREATMENT FACILITIES
The Committee recognizes the public health crisis caused by
healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and that respiratory
infections are the number one contributor to HAIs.
Servicemembers treated by the Military Health System for a
condition or injury should not be subject to an additional
infection developed during their stays at military treatment
facilities. The Committee notes that preventable HAIs lead to
unnecessary losses of life, increase defense healthcare costs,
and that past efforts to reduce respiratory HAIs have had
little success.
Therefore, the Committee encourages the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Health Affairs, in conjunction with the Director
of the Defense Health Agency, to prioritize the development of
ultraviolet respirators that allow for increased breathability
for use by patients at military treatment facilities with
respiratory infections to eliminate pathogens in exhaled breath
and prevent the spread of infection.
REPORT ON OVERSIGHT OF REPAIRS AND EXECUTION OF FUNDS MADE AVAILABLE TO
WILLIAM BEAUMONT ARMY MEDICAL CENTER
The Committee understands that William Beaumont Army
Medical Center, located on Fort Bliss, Texas, has sustained a
series of publicly reported water restrictions and water leaks
which have, at times, negatively impacted patient experience
and posed a risk to facility servers located within the
hospital. Given these issues to the facility, the Committee
directs the Director of the Defense Health Agency to provide a
report, not later than 60 days after the enactment of this Act,
to the congressional defense committees that details actions
undertaken to address these repair requirements.
CHEMICAL AGENTS AND MUNITIONS DESTRUCTION, DEFENSE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction, Defense:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
DRUG INTERDICTION AND COUNTER-DRUG ACTIVITIES, DEFENSE
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, Defense:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Committee remains concerned regarding the scourge of
illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids that kill
thousands of Americans every year. The Department of Defense
has a key role in helping to combat this crisis through its
drug-interdiction and counter-drug programs. The Committee,
therefore, has increased funding for the program over the
fiscal year 2025 enacted levels. This includes additional
funding for the National Guard and to facilitate interdiction
efforts by United States Southern Command.
The Secretary of Defense is directed to ensure that
international programs requested and supported by this account
do not duplicate programs funded by the Defense Security
Cooperation Agency in the Operation and Maintenance, Defense-
Wide account. Any congressional notification submitted pursuant
to 10 U.S.C. 284 shall identify any resources within the
Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide account that are
allocated for similar or related purposes.
PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE ZONE MAPS
The Committee acknowledges the Department of Defense has
established certain National Defense Zones. The Committee also
recognizes that maps outlining the boundaries of these National
Defense Zones must be easily accessible to the public, such
that local communities may deconflict recreational activities
or other traditional usage of these recently designated lands.
Therefore, the Committee urges the Secretary of Defense to
publicly release and maintain web-accessible maps identifying
all current or future National Defense Zones, to include a
Community Liaison Point of Contact for public inquiries.
OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
The Committee recommends the following appropriations for
the Office of the Inspector General:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
TITLE VII
RELATED AGENCIES
NATIONAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMS
The National Intelligence Program and the Military
Intelligence Program budgets funded in this Act consist
primarily of resources for the Director of National
Intelligence, including the Intelligence Community Management
staff, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense
Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the
National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence
Agency, the intelligence services of the Departments of the
Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the CIA Retirement and
Disability fund.
CLASSIFIED ANNEX
Adjustments to classified programs are addressed in a
separate, detailed, and comprehensive classified annex. The
Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, and other
organizations are expected to fully comply with the
recommendations and directions in the classified annex
accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriations Act,
2026.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY SYSTEM FUND
Committee recommendation.............................. $514,000,000
The Committee recommends an appropriation of $514,000,000
for the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability
System Fund. This is a mandatory account.
This appropriation provides payments of benefits to
qualified beneficiaries in accordance with the Central
Intelligence Agency Retirement Act of 1964 for Certain
Employees (Public Law 88-643), as amended by Public Law 94-522.
This statute authorized the establishment of the CIA Retirement
and Disability System for certain employees and authorized the
establishment and maintenance of a fund from which benefits
would be paid to those beneficiaries.
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT ACCOUNT
Committee recommendation.............................. $642,000,000
The Committee recommends an appropriation of $642,000,000
for the Intelligence Community Management Account.
TITLE VIII
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Title VIII of the accompanying bill includes 165 general
provisions. A brief description of each general provision
follows.
Section 8001 prohibits the use of funds for publicity or
propaganda purposes not authorized by Congress.
Section 8002 provides for conditions and limitations on the
payment of compensation to, or employment of, foreign
nationals.
Section 8003 limits the availability of funds.
Section 8004 limits the obligation of funds during the last
two months of the fiscal year.
Section 8005 provides general transfer authority of funds
to other military functions.
Section 8006 provides that the tables titled ``Explanation
of Project Level Adjustments'' shall be carried out in the
manner provided by the tables to the same extent as if the
tables were included in the text of this Act.
Section 8007 provides for the establishment of a baseline
for application of reprogramming and transfer authorities for
the current fiscal year.
Section 8008 provides for limitations on the use of
transfer authority of working capital fund cash balances.
Section 8009 prohibits the use of funds to initiate a
special access program without prior notification to the
congressional defense committees.
Section 8010 provides limitations and conditions on the use
of funds to initiate multiyear procurement contracts.
Section 8011 provides for the use of funds for humanitarian
and civic assistance costs.
Section 8012 prohibits the use of funds to influence
congressional action on any matters pending before Congress.
Section 8013 prohibits the use of funds to reduce the
number of strategic delivery vehicles and launchers.
Section 8014 provides for the transfer of funds for the
Department of Defense Pilot Mentor-Protege Program.
Section 8015 provides for the Department of Defense to
purchase anchor and mooring chains manufactured only in the
United States.
Section 8016 prohibits funds for any non-appropriated
activity of the Department of Defense that procures malt
beverages and wine except under certain conditions.
Section 8017 prohibits the use of funds to demilitarize or
dispose of certain surplus firearms and small arms ammunition
or ammunition components.
Section 8018 provides a limitation on funds being used for
the relocation of any Department of Defense entity into or
within the National Capital Region.
Section 8019 provides for incentive payments authorized by
section 504 of the Indian Financing Act of 1974 (25 U.S.C.
1544).
Section 8020 provides for the conveyance, without
consideration, of relocatable housing units that are excess to
the needs of the Air Force.
Section 8021 provides funds for the mitigation of
environmental impacts on Indian lands resulting from Department
of Defense activities.
Section 8022 prohibits funds for the Defense Media Activity
from being used for national or international political or
psychological activities.
Section 8023 provides funding for the Civil Air Patrol
Corporation.
Section 8024 prohibits funds from being used to establish
new Department of Defense Federally Funded Research and
Development Centers.
Section 8025 defines the congressional defense committees.
Section 8026 defines the congressional intelligence
committees.
Section 8027 provides for competition between private firms
and Department of Defense depot maintenance activities.
Section 8028 requires the Department of Defense to comply
with the Buy American Act.
Section 8029 provides for the Department of Defense to
procure carbon, alloy, or armor steel plate melted and rolled
only in the United States and Canada.
Section 8030 provides for the revocation of blanket waivers
of the Buy American Act.
Section 8031 prohibits the use of funds for the procurement
of ball and roller bearings other than those produced by a
domestic source and of domestic origin.
Section 8032 prohibits the use of funds to purchase
supercomputers which are not manufactured in the United States.
Section 8033 provides a waiver of Buy American provisions
for certain cooperative programs.
Section 8034 prohibits the use of funds for the purchase or
manufacture of a United States flag unless such flags are
treated as covered items under section 4862(b) of title 10
United States Code.
Section 8035 provides for the availability of funds
contained in the Department of Defense Overseas Military
Facility Investment Recovery Account.
Section 8036 provides authority to use operation and
maintenance appropriations to purchase items having an
investment item unit cost of not more than $350,000.
Section 8037 provides authority to use operation and
maintenance appropriations for the Asia Pacific Regional
Initiative Program.
Section 8038 prohibits the sale of tobacco products in
military resale outlets below the most competitive price in the
local community.
Section 8039 prohibits the use of Working Capital Funds to
purchase specified investment items.
Section 8040 provides limitations on the availability of
funds appropriated for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Section 8041 places limitations on the use of funds made
available in this Act to establish field operating agencies.
Section 8042 places restrictions on converting to
contractor performance an activity or function of the
Department of Defense unless it meets certain guidelines.
Section 8043 prohibits the use of funds to reduce
authorized positions for military technicians (dual status) of
the Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army Reserve, and
Air Force Reserve unless such reductions are a direct result of
a reduction in military force structure.
Section 8044 prohibits funds for assistance to the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea unless specifically
appropriated for that purpose.
Section 8045 provides for reimbursement to the National
Guard and reserve when members of the National Guard and
reserve provide intelligence or counterintelligence support to
the combatant commands, defense agencies, and joint
intelligence activities.
Section 8046 prohibits the transfer of Department of
Defense and Central Intelligence Agency drug interdiction and
counter-drug activities funds to other agencies except as
specifically provided in an appropriations law.
Section 8047 provides funding for Red Cross and United
Services Organization grants.
Section 8048 provides funds for the Small Business
Innovation Research program and the Small Business Technology
Transfer program.
Section 8049 prohibits funds for contractor bonuses being
paid due to business restructuring.
Section 8050 provides transfer authority for the pay of
military personnel in connection with support and services for
eligible organizations and activities outside the Department of
Defense.
Section 8051 provides conditions for the use of equipment
of the National Guard Distance Learning Project on a space-
available, reimbursable basis.
Section 8052 prohibits funds to retire C-40 aircraft, with
certain exceptions.
Section 8053 prohibits the use of funds to procure end-
items for delivery to military forces for operational training,
operational use or inventory requirements.
Section 8054 prohibits funds for repairs or maintenance to
military family housing units.
Section 8055 provides obligation authority for new starts
for defense innovation acceleration or rapid prototyping
program only after notification to the congressional defense
committees.
Section 8056 requires a classified quarterly report on
certain matters as directed in the classified annex
accompanying this Act.
Section 8057 provides for the use of National Guard
personnel to support ground-based elements of the National
Ballistic Missile Defense System.
Section 8058 prohibits the use of funds to transfer certain
ammunition.
Section 8059 provides for a waiver by the Chief of the
National Guard Bureau or his designee for all or part of
consideration in cases of personal property leases of less than
one year.
Section 8060 provides for the transfer of funds made
available in this Act under Operation and Maintenance, Army to
other activities of the federal government for classified
purposes.
Section 8061 prohibits the use of funds to separate, or to
consolidate from within, the National Intelligence Program
budget from the Department of Defense budget.
Section 8062 provides the authority to transfer funding
from operation and maintenance accounts for the Army, Navy, and
Air Force to the central fund for Fisher Houses and Suites.
Section 8063 provides grant authority for the construction
and furnishing of additional Fisher Houses to meet the needs of
military family members when confronted with the illness or
hospitalization of an eligible military beneficiary.
Section 8064 provides for the authority to transfer funding
made available in this Act under Operation and Maintenance,
Navy to the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service
Development Trust Fund.
Section 8065 prohibits the modification of command and
control relationships to give Fleet Forces Command operational
and administrative control of United States Navy forces
assigned to the Pacific fleet.
Section 8066 requires notification for the rapid
acquisition and deployment of supplies and associated support
services.
Section 8067 provides funding and transfer authority for
the Israeli Cooperative Programs.
Section 8068 provides for the funding of prior year
shipbuilding cost increases.
Section 8069 provides authorization for funds for
intelligence and intelligence-related activities until the
enactment of an Intelligence Authorization Act.
Section 8070 prohibits funds to initiate a new start
program without prior written notification.
Section 8071 prohibits the use of funds for the research,
development, test, evaluation, procurement, or deployment of
nuclear armed interceptors of a missile defense system.
Section 8072 prohibits funds for the decommissioning of
certain ships.
Section 8073 provides limitations on the Shipbuilding and
Conversion, Navy appropriation.
Section 8074 prohibits the use of funds to reduce or
disestablish the operation of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance
Squadron of the Air Force Reserve.
Section 8075 prohibits funds for the integration of foreign
intelligence information unless the information has been
lawfully collected and processed during conduct of authorized
foreign intelligence activities.
Section 8076 limits the availability of funding provided
for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence beyond
the current fiscal year, except for funds appropriated for
research and technology.
Section 8077 provides for the establishment of a baseline
for application of reprogramming and transfer authorities for
the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the
current fiscal year.
Section 8078 places limitations on the reprogramming of
funds from the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce
Development Account.
Section 8079 provides for limitations on funding provided
for the National Intelligence Program to be available for
obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming or transfer
of funds in accordance with the National Security Act of 1947.
Section 8080 provides that any agency receiving funds made
available in this Act shall post on a public website any report
required to be submitted to Congress with certain exceptions.
Section 8081 prohibits funds for federal contracts in
excess of $1,000,000 unless the contractor meets certain
conditions.
Section 8082 provides funds for transfer to the Joint
Department of Defense-Department of Veterans Affairs Medical
Facility Demonstration Fund.
Section 8083 prohibits the use of funds in contravention of
the provisions of section 130h of title 10, United States Code.
Section 8084 provides for the purchase of heavy and light
armored vehicles for the physical security of personnel or for
force protection purposes up to a limit of $450,000 per
vehicle.
Section 8085 provides the Director of National Intelligence
with general transfer authority, with certain limitations.
Section 8086 authorizes the use of funds in the
Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy account to purchase two used
auxiliary vessels for the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
Section 8087 directs the Secretary of Defense to post grant
awards on a public website in a searchable format.
Section 8088 prohibits the use of funds by the National
Security Agency for targeting United States persons under
authorities granted in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act.
Section 8089 places restrictions on transfer amounts
available to pay salaries for non-Department of Defense
personnel.
Section 8090 provides that operation and maintenance funds
may be used for any purposes related to the National Defense
Reserve Fleet.
Section 8091 prohibits the use of funds to award a new TAO
Fleet Oiler or FFG Frigate program contract for the acquisition
of certain components unless those components are manufactured
in the United States.
Section 8092 prohibits the use of funds for the development
and design of certain future naval ships unless any contract
specifies that all hull, mechanical, and electrical components
are manufactured in the United States.
Section 8093 prohibits certain transfers from the
Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development
Account.
Section 8094 prohibits the use of funds for gaming or
entertainment that involves nude entertainers.
Section 8095 prohibits the use of funds for information
technology systems that do not have pornographic content
filters.
Section 8096 places restrictions on the use of funding for
military parades.
Section 8097 prohibits the use of funds to enter into a
contract or provide a loan to any corporation that has any
unpaid Federal tax liability.
Section 8098 provides funds for certain software pilot
programs.
Section 8099 prohibits the transfer of the National
Reconnaissance Office to the Space Force.
Section 8100 prohibits the use of funds in contravention of
the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
Section 8101 prohibits funds to the Azov Battalion, the
Third Separate Assault Brigade, or any successor organization.
Section 8102 provides for the obligation of funds in
anticipation of receipt of contributions from the Government of
Kuwait.
Section 8103 provides funding for International Security
Cooperation Programs.
Section 8104 provides funding to reimburse certain
countries for border security.
Section 8105 provides $500,000,000 for the Taiwan Security
Cooperation Initiative.
Section 8106 prohibits the use of funds in contravention of
the War Powers Resolution.
Section 8107 prohibits the use of funds in violation of the
Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008.
Section 8108 prohibits funds for any member of Hamas,
Hezbollah, the Houthis, or the Taliban.
Section 8109 prohibits funds for the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency.
Section 8110 provides that certain support to friendly
foreign countries be made in accordance with section 8005 of
this Act.
Section 8111 prohibits the use of funds to enter into a
contract with Rosoboronexport.
Section 8112 requires notification of the receipt of
contributions from foreign governments and notification prior
to obligating such funds.
Section 8113 requires the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to
report on any unplanned activity or exercise.
Section 8114 requires a report concurrent with any exercise
of the drawdown authority provided by Section 506 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
Section 8115 requires notification if a foreign base is
opened or closed.
Section 8116 prohibits funds to establish permanent bases
in Iraq or Afghanistan or United States control over Iraq or
Syria oil resources.
Section 8117 provides $500,000,000 ceiling for security
assistance to Jordan.
Section 8118 requires the United States Southern Command to
assume combatant command responsibility for activities related
to Mexico.
Section 8119 provides funds to improve military readiness
with transfer authority.
Section 8120 reduces amounts appropriated in title II of
this Act to reflect excess cash balances in Department of
Defense Working Capital Funds.
Section 8121 directs the Secretary of Defense to allocate
amounts made available from the Creating Helpful Incentives to
Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Defense Fund.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ALLOCATION OF FUNDS: CHIPS AND SCIENCE ACT FISCAL
YEAR 2026
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide
Budget Activity 02, Applied Research:
Microelectronics Commons............................ 79,709,000
Budget Activity 03, Advanced Technology Development:
Microelectronics Commons............................ 260,731,000
Budget Activity 04, Advanced Component Development and
Prototypes:
Microelectronics Commons............................ 59,560,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 8122 provides guidance on the implementation of the
Policy for Assisted Reproductive Services for the Benefit of
Seriously or Severely Ill/Injured Active Duty Service Members.
Section 8123 provides the authority for the Secretary of
Defense to obligate funds to modify up to nine F-35 aircraft to
a test configuration.
Section 8124 prohibits the use of funds to integrate an
alternative engine on any F-35 aircraft.
Section 8125 provides up to $650,000,000 for the rapid
acquisition and deployment of supplies and associated support
services.
Section 8126 enables the Office of Strategic Capital to use
appropriated funds for loans and loan guarantees.
Section 8127 provides the authority for Defense Innovation
Unit Fielding funds for expenses related to agile, research,
development, test and evaluation, procurement, production
modification, and operation and maintenance requirements,
including initial acquisition of end-items for operational use.
Section 8128 allows procurement of software-only solutions.
Section 8129 prohibits the use of funds to support the
Wuhan Institute of Virology, or any laboratory owned or
controlled by the governments of foreign adversaries.
Section 8130 prohibits the use of funds for any work to be
performed by EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. in China on research
supported by the Government of the People's Republic of China.
Section 8131 prohibits the use of funds to transfer,
release, or assist in the transfer or release to or within the
United States of certain detainees.
Section 8132 prohibits the use of funds to transfer any
individual detained at United States Naval Station Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, to the custody or control of the individual's
country of origin or any other foreign country.
Section 8133 prohibits the use of funds to construct,
acquire, or modify any facility in the United States to house
any individual detained at United States Naval Station
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Section 8134 prohibits the use of funds to carry out the
closure of the United States Naval Station Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba.
Section 8135 prohibits funding to enforce any COVID-19 mask
mandates.
Section 8136 prohibits funding to require a member of the
Armed Forces or a civilian employee of the Department of
Defense to receive a vaccination against COVID-19.
Section 8137 prohibits funding for a COVID-19 vaccination
requirement as a prerequisite for students.
Section 8138 prohibits funding to provide gender transition
procedures, including surgery or medication, referrals for
those procedures, or a change in duty station for these
activities for a child through the Exceptional Family Member
Program.
Section 8139 prohibits funds to take any discriminatory
action against a person, wholly or partially, on the basis that
such person speaks, or acts, in accordance with a sincerely
held religious belief, or moral conviction, that marriage is,
or should be recognized as, a union of one man and one woman.
Section 8140 prohibits the use of funds to label
communications by United States persons as misinformation,
disinformation, or malinformation, or to partner with or fund
nonprofits or other organizations that pressure private
companies to censor lawful and constitutionally protected
speech.
Section 8141 prohibits funds to carry out any program,
project, or activity that promotes or advances Critical Race
Theory or any concept associated with Critical Race Theory.
Section 8142 prohibits the use of funds for paid leave and
travel or related expenses of a federal employee or their
dependents for the purposes of obtaining an abortion or
abortion-related services.
Section 8143 prohibits the use of funds to recruit, hire,
or promote any person who has been convicted of charges related
to child pornography or other sexual misconduct.
Section 8144 prohibits the use of funds to promote, host,
facilitate, or support a drag queen story hour for children on
United States military installations or for military recruiting
programs that feature drag queens.
Section 8145 prohibits the use of funds to perform surgical
procedures or hormone therapies for the purposes of gender
affirming care.
Section 8146 prohibits funds to carry out sections 554(a)
and 913 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283).
Section 8147 prohibits funds to implement, administer,
apply, enforce, or carry out measures relating to the
Department of Defense diversity, equity, inclusion, and
accessibility strategy, certain executive orders, and execute
activities that promote or perpetuate divisive concepts related
to race or sex.
Section 8148 prohibits funding for any office of diversity,
equity, or inclusion.
Section 8149 prohibits funding to NewsGuard Technologies
Inc.
Section 8150 prohibts the use of funds in contravention of
Department of Defense Instruction 3216.01.
Section 8151 prohibits the use of funds to divest more than
eight U-2 aircraft.
Section 8152 prohibits funds to divest F-15 aircraft.
Section 8153 provides for special transfer authority for
ship construction programs.
Section 8154 reduces appropriations for savings and
efficiencies attributed to H.R. 1.
Section 8155 reduces appropriations for savings resulting
from favorable bulk fuel rates.
Section 8156 reduces appropriations for savings resulting
from cooperation with the Department of Government Efficiency.
Section 8157 reduces appropriations for savings from
management efficiencies.
Section 8158 requires budget justification documents and
quarterly reports on funds resulting from reconciliation.
Section 8159 places a 75-person full-time equivalent limit
on the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Office.
Section 8160 directs the Secretary of Defense to obligate
funds in order to achieve accelerated initial operational
capability for Navy's next generation fighter aircraft.
Section 8161 requires DARPA to provide quarterly execution
reports.
Section 8162 appropriates funding for the National Defense
Stockpile Transaction Fund.
Section 8163 establishes a platform supply vessel pilot
program.
Section 8164 restricts funding to move the headquarters
functions of U.S. Southern Command.
Section 8165 prohibits funds to pause, cancel, or terminate
the UH-60 Blackhawk aircraft program.
Section 8166 prohibits funds to pause, cancel, or terminate
the E-7 Wedgetail aircraft program.
Section 8167 prohibits funds in contravention of the Posse
Comitatus Act of 1878.
Section 8168 prohibits funds to discontinue or restrict
access to sexual assault forensic examinations for Department
of Defense civilian personnel.
Section 8169 prohibits the use of funds for the transmittal
of classified information of war or operational plans over
unsecured networks.
Section 8170 requires the Secretary of Defense to publish a
public report itemizing all expenses and contracts associated
with the military parade in Washington, D.C. on June 14, 2025.
Section 8171 provides $12,000,000 for the Irregular Warfare
Center.
Section 8172 establishes a spending reduction account.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
The following items are included in accordance with various
requirements of the Rules of the House of Representatives:
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the following is a statement of
general performance goals and objectives for which this measure
authorizes funding:
The Committee on Appropriations considers program
performance, including a program's success in developing and
attaining outcome-related goals and objectives, in developing
funding recommendations.
PROGRAM DUPLICATION
No provision of this bill establishes or reauthorizes a
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
TRANSFER OF FUNDS
Pursuant to clause 3(f)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the following is submitted describing
the transfer of funds provided in the accompanying bill.
Language has been included under ``Operation and
Maintenance, Defense-Wide'' which provides for the transfer of
funds for certain classified activities.
Language has been included under ``Environmental
Restoration, Army'' which provides for the transfer of funds
for environmental restoration, reduction and recycling of
hazardous waste, removal of unsafe buildings and debris, or for
similar purposes.
Language has been included under ``Environmental
Restoration, Navy'' which provides for the transfer of funds
for environmental restoration, reduction and recycling of
hazardous waste, removal of unsafe buildings and debris, or for
similar purposes.
Language has been included under ``Environmental
Restoration, Air Force'' which provides for the transfer of
funds for environmental restoration, reduction and recycling of
hazardous waste, removal of unsafe buildings and debris, or for
similar purposes.
Language has been included under ``Environmental
Restoration, Defense-Wide'' which provides for the transfer of
funds for environmental restoration, reduction and recycling of
hazardous waste, removal of unsafe buildings and debris, or for
similar purposes.
Language has been included under ``Environmental
Restoration, Formerly Used Defense Sites''' which provides for
the transfer of funds for environmental restoration, reduction
and recycling of hazardous waste, removal of unsafe buildings
and debris, or for similar purposes.
Language has been included under ``Drug Interdiction and
Counter-Drug Activities, Defense'' which provides for the
transfer of funds to appropriations available to the Department
of Defense for military personnel of the reserve components;
for operation and maintenance' for procurement; and for
research, development, test and evaluation for drug
interdiction and counter-drug activities of the Department of
Defense.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8005'' which provides for the transfer of working capital funds
to other appropriations accounts of the Department of Defense
military functions.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8008'' which provides for transfer of funds between working
capital funds and the ``Foreign Currency Fluctuations,
Defense'' appropriation and the operation and maintenance
appropriation accounts.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8014'' which provides for the transfer of funds from the
Department of Defense Pilot Mentor-Protege Program to any other
appropriation and the operation and maintenance appropriation
accounts.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8050'' which provides for the transfer of funds from the
``Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide'' to appropriations
available for the pay of military personnel in connection with
support and services of eligible organizations and activities
outside the Department of Defense.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8060'' which provides for the transfer of funds from
``Operation and Maintenance, Army'' to other activities of the
federal government.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8062'' which provides for the transfer of funds from
``Operation and Maintenance, Army'', ``Operation and
Maintenance, Navy'', and ``Operation and Maintenance, Air
Force'' to the central fund established for Fisher Houses and
Suites.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8063'' which provides for the transfer of funds for the
construction and furnishing of additional Fisher Houses to meet
the needs of military family members when confronted with the
illness or hospitalization of an eligible military beneficiary.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8064'' which provides for the transfer of funds from
``Operation and Maintenance, Navy'' to the John C. Stennis
Center for Public Service Development Trust Fund.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8082'' which provides for the transfer of funds appropriated
for operation and maintenance for the Defense Health Program to
the Joint Department of Defense-Department of Veterans Affairs
Medical Facility Demonstration Fund.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8085'' which provides for the transfer of funds for the
National Intelligence Program.
Language has been included under ``General Provisions, Sec.
8153'' which provides for the transfer of funds from
``Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy'' to any available Navy
ship construction appropriation for the purpose of liquidating
necessary changes from inflation, market fluctuations, or rate
adjustments.
RESCISSIONS
Pursuant to clause 3(f)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee notes that the
accompanying bill does not propose any rescissions.
COMPLIANCE WITH RULE XIII, CL. 3(E) (RAMSEYER RULE)
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee notes that the
accompanying bill does not propose to repeal or amend a statute
or part thereof.
CHANGES IN THE APPLICATION OF EXISTING LAW
Pursuant to clause 3(f)(1)(A) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the following statements are
submitted describing the effect of provisions in the
accompanying bill which directly or indirectly change the
application of existing law.
Language is included in various parts of the bill to
continue ongoing activities which require annual authorization
or additional legislation, which to date has not been enacted.
The bill includes a number of provisions which place
limitations on the use of funds in the bill or change existing
limitations and which might, under some circumstances, be
construed as changing the application of law.
The bill includes a number of provisions which provide for
the transfer of funds and which might, under some
circumstances, be construed as changing the application of law.
The bill includes a number of provisions, which have been
virtually unchanged for many years that are technically
considered legislation.
The bill provides that appropriations shall remain
available for more than one year for some programs for which
the basic authorizing legislation does not presently authorize
each extended availability.
In various places in the bill, the Committee has allocated
funds within appropriation accounts in order to fund specific
programs.
Language is included in various accounts placing a
limitation on funds for emergencies and extraordinary expenses.
Language is included that provides not more than $2,981,000
for the Combatant Commander Initiative Fund.
Language is included that provides not less than
$70,000,000 for the APEX Accelerators, of which not less than
$5,000,000 shall be available for centers.
Language is included that prohibits the consolidation of
certain legislative affairs or liaison offices.
Language is included that makes available $27,693,000 for
certain classified activities, allows such funds to be
transferred between certain accounts, and exempts such funds
from the investment item unit cost ceiling.
Language is included under the heading ``Counter-ISIS Train
and Equip Fund'' that provides for the use of funds for certain
purposes, compliance with vetting standards, management of
contributions, the submission of certain reports, and making
certain funds unavailable until a report is submitted.
Language is included that limits the use of funds for
official representation purposes under the heading ``United
States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.''
Language is included that limits funds credited or
transferred under the heading ``Department of Defense
Acquisition Workforce Development Account.''
Language is included that provides for specific
construction, acquisition, or conversion of vessels under the
heading ``Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy.''
Language is included that provides for the incurring of
additional obligations for certain activities under the heading
``Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy.''
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds
provided under the heading ``Shipbuilding and Conversion,
Navy'' for the construction of any naval vessel, or the
construction of major components for the construction or
conversion of any naval vessel, in foreign facilities or
shipyards.
Language is included under the heading ``National Guard and
Reserve Equipment Account'' providing for the procurement of
certain items and the submission of modernization priority
assessments.
Language is included under the heading ``Research,
Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy'' that provides funds
for certain activities related to the V-22.
Language is included that specifies the use of certain
funds provided under the heading ``Defense Health Program.''
Language is included that provides that not less than
$15,000,000 of funds provided under the heading ``Defense
Health Program'' shall be available for HIV prevention
educational activities.
Language is included under the heading ``Defense Health
Program'' that provides that not less than $700,000,000 shall
be made available to the Defense Health Agency to carry out
congressionally directed medical research programs.
Language is included that specifies the use of certain
funds provided under the heading ``Chemical Agents and
Munitions Destruction, Defense.''
Language is included that specifies the use of certain
funds provided under the heading ``Drug Interdiction and
Counter-Drug Activities, Defense.''
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
publicity or propaganda purposes not authorized by Congress.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
publicity or propaganda purposes not authorized by Congress.
Language is included that provides for conditions and
limitations on the payment of compensation to, or employment
of, foreign nationals.
Language is included that limits the availability of funds.
Language is included that limits the obligation of funds
during the last two months of the fiscal year.
Language is included that provides general transfer
authority of funds to other military functions.
Language is included that provides that the tables titled
``Explanation of Project Level Adjustments'' shall be carried
out in the manner provided by the tables to the same extent as
if the tables were included in the text of this Act.
Language is included that provides for the establishment of
a baseline for application of reprogramming and transfer
authorities for the current fiscal year.
Language is included that provides for limitations on the
use of transfer authority of working capital fund cash
balances.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
initiate a special access program without prior notification to
the congressional defense committees.
Language is included that provides limitations and
conditions on the use of funds to initiate multiyear
procurement contracts.
Language is included that provides for the use of funds for
humanitarian and civic assistance costs.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
influence congressional action on any matters pending before
Congress.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
reduce the number of strategic delivery vehicles and launchers.
Language is included that provides for the transfer of
funds for the Department of Defense Pilot Mentor-Protege
Program.
Language is included that provides for the Department of
Defense to purchase anchor and mooring chains manufactured only
in the United States.
Language is included that prohibits funds for any non-
appropriated activity of the Department of Defense that
procures malt beverages and wine except under certain
conditions.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
demilitarize or dispose of certain surplus firearms and small
arms ammunition or ammunition components.
Language is included that provides a limitation on funds
being used for the relocation of any Department of Defense
entity into or within the National Capital Region.
Language is included that provides for incentive payments
authorized by section 504 of the Indian Financing Act of 1974
(25 U.S.C. 1544).
Language is included that provides for the conveyance,
without consideration, of relocatable housing units that are
excess to the needs of the Air Force.
Language is included that provides funds for the mitigation
of environmental impacts on Indian lands resulting from
Department of Defense activities.
Language is included that prohibits funds for the Defense
Media Activity from being used for national or international
political or psychological activities.
Language is included that provides funding for the Civil
Air Patrol Corporation.
Language is included that prohibits funds from being used
to establish new Department of Defense Federally Funded
Research and Development Centers.
Language is included that defines the congressional defense
committees.
Language is included that defines the congressional
intelligence committees.
Language is included that provides for competition between
private firms and Department of Defense depot maintenance
activities.
Language is included that requires the Department of
Defense to comply with the Buy American Act.
Language is included that provides for the Department of
Defense to procure carbon, alloy, or armor steel plate melted
and rolled only in the United States and Canada.
Language is included that provides for the revocation of
blanket waivers of the Buy American Act
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
the procurement of ball and roller bearings other than those
produced by a domestic source and of domestic origin.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
purchase supercomputers which are not manufactured in the
United States.
Language is included that provides a waiver of Buy American
provisions for certain cooperative programs.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
the purchase or manufacture of a United States flag unless such
flags are treated as covered items under Language is included
that 4862(b) of title 10 United States Code.
Language is included that provides for the availability of
funds contained in the Department of Defense Overseas Military
Facility Investment Recovery Account.
Language is included that provides authority to use
operation and maintenance appropriations to purchase items
having an investment item unit cost of not more than $350,000.
Language is included that provides authority to use
operation and maintenance appropriations for the Asia Pacific
Regional Initiative Program.
Language is included that prohibits the sale of tobacco
products in military resale outlets below the most competitive
price in the local community.
Language is included that prohibits the use of Working
Capital Funds to purchase specified investment items.
Language is included that provides limitations on the
availability of funds appropriated for the Central Intelligence
Agency.
Language is included that places limitations on the use of
funds made available in this Act to establish field operating
agencies.
Language is included that places restrictions on converting
to contractor performance an activity or function of the
Department of Defense unless it meets certain guidelines.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
reduce authorized positions for military technicians (dual
status) of the Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army
Reserve, and Air Force Reserve unless such reductions are a
direct result of a reduction in military force structure.
Language is included that prohibits funds for assistance to
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea unless specifically
appropriated for that purpose.
Language is included that provides for reimbursement to the
National Guard and reserve when members of the National Guard
and reserve provide intelligence or counterintelligence support
to the combatant commands, defense agencies, and joint
intelligence activities.
Language is included that prohibits the transfer of
Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency drug
interdiction and counter-drug activities funds to other
agencies except as specifically provided in an appropriations
law.
Language is included that provides funding for Red Cross
and United Services Organization grants.
Language is included that provides funds for the Small
Business Innovation Research program and the Small Business
Technology Transfer program.
Language is included that prohibits funds for contractor
bonuses being paid due to business restructuring.
Language is included that provides transfer authority for
the pay of military personnel in connection with support and
services for eligible organizations and activities outside the
Department of Defense.
Language is included that provides conditions for the use
of equipment of the National Guard Distance Learning Project on
a space-available, reimbursable basis.
Language is included that prohibits funds to retire C-40
aircraft, with certain exceptions.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
procure end-items for delivery to military forces for
operational training, operational use or inventory
requirements.
Language is included that prohibits funds for repairs or
maintenance to military family housing units.
Language is included that provides obligation authority for
new starts for defense innovation acceleration or rapid
prototyping program only after notification to the
congressional defense committees.
Language is included that requires a classified quarterly
report on certain matters as directed in the classified annex
accompanying this Act.
Language is included that provides for the use of National
Guard personnel to support ground-based elements of the
National Ballistic Missile Defense System.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
transfer certain ammunition.
Language is included that provides for a waiver by the
Chief of the National Guard Bureau or his designee for all or
part of consideration in cases of personal property leases of
less than one year.
Language is included that provides for the transfer of
funds made available in this Act under Operation and
Maintenance, Army to other activities of the federal government
for classified purposes.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
separate, or to consolidate from within, the National
Intelligence Program budget from the Department of Defense
budget.
Language is included that provides the authority to
transfer funding from operation and maintenance accounts for
the Army, Navy, and Air Force to the central fund for Fisher
Houses and Suites.
Language is included that provides grant authority for the
construction and furnishing of additional Fisher Houses to meet
the needs of military family members when confronted with the
illness or hospitalization of an eligible military beneficiary.
Language is included that provides for the authority to
transfer funding made available in this Act under Operation and
Maintenance, Navy to the John C. Stennis Center for Public
Service Development Trust Fund.
Language is included that prohibits the modification of
command and control relationships to give Fleet Forces Command
operational and administrative control of United States Navy
forces assigned to the Pacific fleet.
Language is included that requires notification for the
rapid acquisition and deployment of supplies and associated
support services.
Language is included that provides funding and transfer
authority for the Israeli Cooperative Programs.
Language is included that provides for the funding of prior
year shipbuilding cost increases.
Language is included that provides authorization for funds
for intelligence and intelligence-related activities until the
enactment of an Intelligence Authorization Act.
Language is included that prohibits funds to initiate a new
start program without prior written notification.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
the research, development, test, evaluation, procurement, or
deployment of nuclear armed interceptors of a missile defense
system.
Language is included that prohibits funds for the
decommissioning of certain ships.
Language is included that provides limitations on the
Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy appropriation.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
reduce or disestablish the operation of the 53rd Weather
Reconnaissance Squadron of the Air Force Reserve.
Language is included that prohibits funds for the
integration of foreign intelligence information unless the
information has been lawfully collected and processed during
conduct of authorized foreign intelligence activities.
Language is included that limits the availability of
funding provided for the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence beyond the current fiscal year, except for funds
appropriated for research and technology.
Language is included that provides for the establishment of
a baseline for application of reprogramming and transfer
authorities for the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence for the current fiscal year.
Language is included that places limitations on the
reprogramming of funds from the Department of Defense
Acquisition Workforce Development Account.
Language is included that provides for limitations on
funding provided for the National Intelligence Program to be
available for obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming
or transfer of funds in accordance with the National Security
Act of 1947.
Language is included that provides that any agency
receiving funds made available in this Act shall post on a
public website any report required to be submitted to Congress
with certain exceptions.
Language is included that prohibits funds for federal
contracts in excess of $1,000,000 unless the contractor meets
certain conditions.
Language is included that provides funds for transfer to
the Joint Department of Defense-Department of Veterans Affairs
Medical Facility Demonstration Fund.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds in
contravention of the provisions of Language is included that
130h of title 10, United States Code.
Language is included that provides for the purchase of
heavy and light armored vehicles for the physical security of
personnel or for force protection purposes up to a limit of
$450,000 per vehicle.
Language is included that provides the Director of National
Intelligence with general transfer authority, with certain
limitations.
Language is included that authorizes the use of funds in
the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy account to purchase two
used auxiliary vessels for the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
Language is included that directs the Secretary of Defense
to post grant awards on a public website in a searchable
format.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds by the
National Security Agency for targeting United States persons
under authorities granted in the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act.
Language is included that places restrictions on transfer
amounts available to pay salaries for non-Department of Defense
personnel.
Language is included that provides that operation and
maintenance funds may be used for any purposes related to the
National Defense Reserve Fleet.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
award a new TAO Fleet Oiler or FFG Frigate program contract for
the acquisition of certain components unless those components
are manufactured in the United States.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
the development and design of certain future naval ships unless
any contract specifies that all hull, mechanical, and
electrical components are manufactured in the United States.
Language is included that prohibits certain transfers from
the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development
Account.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
gaming or entertainment that involves nude entertainers.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
information technology systems that do not have pornographic
content filters.
Language is included that places restrictions on the use of
funding for military parades.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
enter into a contract or provide a loan to any corporation that
has any unpaid Federal tax liability.
Language is included that provides funds for certain
software pilot programs.
Language is included that prohibits the transfer of the
National Reconnaissance Office to the Space Force.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds in
contravention of the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
Language is included that prohibits funds to the Azov
Battalion, the Third Separate Assault Brigade, or any successor
organization.
Language is included that provides for the obligation of
funds in anticipation of receipt of contributions from the
Government of Kuwait.
Language is included that provides funding for
International Security Cooperation Programs.
Language is included that provides funding to reimburse
certain countries for border security.
Language is included that provides $500,000,000 for the
Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds in
contravention of the War Powers Resolution.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds in
violation of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008.
Language is included that prohibits funds for any member of
Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, or the Taliban.
Language is included that prohibits funds for the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Language is included that provides certain support to
friendly foreign countries be made in accordance with section
8005 of this Act.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
enter into a contract with Rosoboronexport.
Language is included that requires notification of the
receipt of contributions from foreign governments and
notification prior to obligating such funds.
Language is included that requires the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs to report on any unplanned activity or exercise.
Language is included that requires a report concurrent with
any exercise of the drawdown authority provided by section 506
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
Language is included that requires notification if a
foreign base is opened or closed.
Language is included that prohibits funds to establish
permanent bases in Iraq or Afghanistan or United States control
over Iraq or Syria oil resources.
Language is included that provides $500,000,000 ceiling for
security assistance to Jordan.
Language is included that requires the United States
Southern Command to assume combatant command responsibility for
activities related to Mexico.
Language is included that provides funds to improve
military readiness with transfer authority.
Language is included that reduces amounts appropriated in
title II of this Act to reflect excess cash balances in
Department of Defense Working Capital Funds.
Language is included that directs the Secretary of Defense
to allocate amounts made available from the Creating Helpful
Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America
Defense Fund.
Language is included that provides guidance on the
implementation of the Policy for Assisted Reproductive Services
for the Benefit of Seriously or Severely Ill/Injured Active
Duty Service Members.
Language is included that provides the authority for the
Secretary of Defense to obligate funds to modify up to nine F-
35 aircraft to a test configuration.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
integrate an alternative engine on any F-35 aircraft.
Language is included that provides up to $650,000,000 for
the rapid acquisition and deployment of supplies and associated
support services.
Language is included that enables the Office of Strategic
Capital to use appropriated funds for loans and loan
guarantees.
Language is included that provides the authority for
Defense Innovation Unit Fielding funds for expenses related to
agile, research, development, test and evaluation, procurement,
production modification, and operation and maintenance
requirements, including initial acquisition of end-items for
operational use.
Language is included that allows procurement of software-
only solutions.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
support the Wuhan Institute of Virology, or any laboratory
owned or controlled by the governments of foreign adversaries.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
any work to be performed by EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. in China
on research supported by the Government of the People's
Republic of China.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release to or
within the United States of certain detainees.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
transfer any individual detained at United States Naval Station
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the custody or control of the
individual's country of origin or any other foreign country.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
construct, acquire, or modify any facility in the United States
to house any individual detained at United States Naval Station
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
carry out the closure of the United States Naval Station
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Language is included that prohibits funding to enforce any
COVID-19 mask mandates.
Language is included that prohibits funding to require a
member of the Armed Forces or a civilian employee of the
Department of Defense to receive a vaccination against COVID-
19.
Language is included that prohibits funding for a COVID-19
vaccination requirement as a prerequisite for students.
Language is included that prohibits funding to provide
gender transition procedures, including surgery or medication,
referrals for those procedures, or a change in duty station for
these activities for a child through the Exceptional Family
Member Program.
Language is included that prohibits funds to take any
discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially, on
the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accordance with
a sincerely held religious belief, or moral conviction, that
marriage is, or should be recognized as, a union of one man and
one woman.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
label communications by United States persons as
misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation, or to
partner with or fund nonprofits or other organizations that
pressure private companies to censor lawful and
constitutionally protected speech.
Language is included that prohibits funds to carry out any
program, project, or activity that promotes or advances
Critical Race Theory or any concept associated with Critical
Race Theory.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds for
paid leave and travel or related expenses of a federal employee
or their dependents for the purposes of obtaining an abortion
or abortion-related services.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
recruit, hire, or promote any person who has been convicted of
charges related to child pornography or other sexual
misconduct.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
promote, host, facilitate, or support a drag queen story hour
for children on United States military installations or for
military recruiting programs that feature drag queens.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
perform surgical procedures or hormone therapies for the
purposes of gender affirming care.
Language is included that prohibits funds to carry out
Language is included that 554(a) and 913 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-
283).
Language is included that prohibits funds to implement,
administer, apply, enforce, or carry out measures relating to
the Department of Defense diversity, equity, inclusion, and
accessibility strategy, certain executive orders, and execute
activities that promote or perpetuate divisive concepts related
to race or sex.
Language is included that prohibits funding for any office
of diversity, equity, or inclusion.
Language is included that prohibits funding to NewsGuard
Technologies Inc.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds in
contravention of Department of Defense Instruction 3216.01.
Language is included that prohibits the use of funds to
divest more than eight U-2 aircraft.
Language is included that prohibits funds to divest F-15
aircraft.
Language is included that provides for special transfer
authority for ship construction programs.
Language is included that reduces appropriations for
savings and efficiencies attributed to H.R. 1.
Language is included that reduces appropriations for
savings resulting from favorable bulk fuel rates.
Language is included that reduces appropriations for
savings resulting from cooperation with the Department of
Government Efficiency.
Language is included that reduces appropriations for
savings from management efficiencies.
Language is included that requires budget justification
documents and quarterly reports on funds resulting from
reconciliation.
Language is included that places a 75-person full-time
equivalent limit on the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation
Office.
Language is included that directs the Secretary of Defense
to obligate funds in order to achieve accelerated initial
operational capability for Navy's next generation fighter
aircraft.
Language is included that requires DARPA to provide
quarterly execution reports.
Language is included that appropriates funding for the
National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund.
Language is included that establishes a platform supply
vessel pilot program.
Language is included that restricts funding to move the
headquarters functions of U.S. Southern Command.
Language is included that establishes a spending reduction
account.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
COMPARISON WITH THE BUDGET RESOLUTION
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives and section 308(a)(1)(A) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the following table compares
the levels of new budget authority provided in the bill with
the appropriate allocation under section 302(b) of the Budget
Act.
[In millions of dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
302(b) Allocation This Bill
---------------------------------------------------------------
Budget Budget
Authority Outlays Authority Outlays
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comparison of amounts in the bill with Committee
allocations to its subcommittees: Subcommittee
on Defense
Discretionary............................... 831,513 0 831,513 \1\828,065
Mandatory................................... 514 0 514 \1\514
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Includes outlays from prior-year budget authority.
FIVE-YEAR OUTLAY PROJECTIONS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII and section
308(a)(1)(B) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
following table contains five-year projections associated with
the budget authority provided in the accompanying bill as
provided to the Committee by the Congressional Budget Office.
[In millions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outlays
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Projection of outlays associated with the recommendation:
2026................................................... \1\490,320
2027................................................... 199,834
2028................................................... 64,998
2029................................................... 32,991
2030 and future years.................................. 28,705
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Excludes outlays from prior-year budget authority.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII and section
308(a)(1)(C) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
Congressional Budget Office has provided the following
estimates of new budget authority and outlays provided by the
accompanying bill for financial assistance to State and local
governments.
[In millions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Budget
Authority Outlays
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Financial assistance to State and local N/A \1\N/A
governments for 2026...................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Includes outlays from prior-year budget authority.
COMMITTEE HEARINGS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(6) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the following hearings were used to
develop or consider the Defense Appropriations Bill, 2026:
The Subcommittee on Defense held a budget hearing on
February 25, 2025, entitled ``Member Day.'' The Subcommittee
received testimony from:
The Honorable Laura Gillen (NY-04)
The Honorable John James (MI-10)
The Honorable Gil Cisneros (CA-31)
The Honorable Jen Kiggans (VA-02)
The Honorable Rudy Yakym (IN-02)
The Honorable James Moylan (Guam At Large)
The Honorable Greg Landsman (OH-01)
The Subcommittee on Defense held an oversight hearing on
May 6, 2025, entitled ``The United States Air Force and Space
Force.''
The Subcommittee received testimony from:
The Honorable Gary A. Ashworth, Acting Secretary,
Department of Air Force
General David W. Allvin, Chief of Staff, United States Air
Force
General B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations,
United States Air Force
The Subcommittee on Defense held an oversight hearing on
May 7, 2025, entitled ``The United States Army.''
The Subcommittee received testimony from:
The Honorable Daniel Driscoll, Secretary, Department of the
Army
General Randy George, Chief of Staff, United States Army
The Subcommittee on Defense held an oversight hearing on
May 14, 2025, entitled ``The United States Navy and Marine
Corps.''
The Subcommittee received testimony from:
Admiral James W. Kilby, Acting Chief of Naval Operations,
United States Navy
The Honorable John Phelan, Secretary, United States Navy
General Eric M. Smith, Commandant, United States Marine
Corps
The Subcommittee on Defense held a oversight hearing on May
20, 2025, entitled ``National Guard and Reserves Forces.''
The Subcommittee received testimony from:
Lieutenant General Leonard F. Anderson IV, Commander,
United States Marine Corps Reserve, Department of the Navy
Lieutenant General Robert D. Harter, Chief of Army Reserve
and Commanding General, United States Army Reserve Command
Lieutenant General John P. Healy, Chief of Air Force
Reserve, Department of the Air Force
Vice Admiral Nancy S. Lacore, Chief of Navy Reserve,
Department of the Navy
General Steven S. Nordhaus, Chief of the National Guard
Bureau, Department of Defense
The Subcommittee on Defense held an oversight hearing on
June 10, 2025, entitled ``The Department of Defense.''
The Subcommittee received testimony from:
The Honorable Pete Hegseth, Secretary, Department of
Defense
General Dan Caine, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Ms. Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, Special Assistant to the
Secretary of Defense, Performing Duties of the Under Secretary
of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer
DISCLOSURE OF EARMARKS AND CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING ITEMS
Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, neither the bill nor this report contains
any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited
tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules
of the House of Representatives.
MINORITY VIEWS
The Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act totals
$831.5 billion. Though the bill is equal to the fiscal year
2025 enacted level, we have deep concerns about how the bill
will impact our military's readiness since the bill repeats,
yet again, the same mistakes as the fiscal year 2024 and 2025
House proposals.
Truly disturbing, however, has been the inability of the
new Administration to provide the Committee with detailed
budgetary information in a timely fashion. It is still a
question as to why this is the case--incompetence, ignorance or
outright obstruction. As the bill is now being reported to the
House of Representatives for consideration, the Committee has
been provided only funding levels and no justification
documents have been transmitted for analysis.
The Defense Appropriations Act is the Appropriation
Committee's largest discretionary funding bill. It is an
incredibly complex piece of legislation and deals with a wide
range of national security issues. Failure to provide annual
budget justification documents impinges on Congress' oversight
responsibilities.
In particular, the budgets for Procurement programs, and
the Research and Development efforts required to support them--
naturally ebb and flow. Congress must review these 5-year
funding profiles so that we can answer the questions that are
fundamental to our Subcommittee's jurisdiction.
We must know what we are buying and why; what we aren't
buying and why; and what phase research and development efforts
are at.
The Administration has indicated that any increases in
Defense spending in fiscal year 2026 will be enacted through
the proposed Reconciliation Bill, which includes $150 billion
of defense funds.
We understand the importance of the investments we make in
our nation's defense. But, it's irresponsible to assume Defense
programs can be funded through an unstable reconciliation
process, and when considering the Reconciliation bill, there is
a bigger picture here.
The cost-of-living crisis is felt by every American
family--and that includes military families. The President is
not laser focused on the cost-of-living crisis, which he is
actually making worse. This Administration and the majority are
attacking programs that help families make ends meet in order
to give billionaires a tax break. Safety net programs and other
basic services that have been attacked by the Administration
and defunded in the Reconciliation bill not only help with the
cost-of-living--they are critical for national security.
The bill again includes partisan social policy riders that
were rejected in the fiscal year 2024 conference agreement. The
inclusion of those riders in the process last year, led to a
full year Continuing Resolution and will continue to inhibit
the ability to enact a full year appropriations bill.
It is unfortunate that the majority felt the need to
include these poison pills given the numerous executive orders
the President has issued since his inauguration. Yet the
attacks against equality for women, the LGBTQI community and
diversity continue.
Specifically, the bill, again, limits the ability of
Service personnel and their families to receive the
reproductive health care they deserve. Women make up almost 20%
of the military services. And approximately 80,000 women
service members live in a state that has limited or banned
access to reproductive health care. Service members do not get
to choose where they are stationed, and their duty station
should not determine the type of health care they receive.
Also, there are provisions that disenfranchise lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender service members rather than
making our military a welcoming and inclusive place for all
those who wish to serve our country. We should not turn away
the talent our military and our nation needs.
There are provisions included in this bill that continue to
needlessly attack diversity and inclusion efforts. Though the
Administration has dismantled all of these types of programs
across the government, they should be reminded that our
military is the institution in our country that most broadly
reflects the entire American population. That includes the 33%
of active-duty service members who identify with a minority
group.
Beyond contentious social policy, there are other elements
of this bill that we cannot support.
The bill continues to abandon the needs of an ally,
Ukraine. The bill eliminates funding for the Ukraine Security
Assistance Initiative. This bill should include the long-term
assistance that Ukraine needs. As we have seen over the past
year, Putin only becomes more emboldened as funding is delayed,
paused or discontinued.
Our NATO allies continue to provide assistance, but without
the support of the United States, we continue to play into
Putin's hands.
To add some context, during the President's first term,
House Republicans crafted a Defense Appropriations bill for
fiscal year 2019 that passed the Committee, 48-4, with
overwhelming bipartisan support. It was a bill that included
$250 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative,
and did not include the divisive social policy riders. Chairman
Cole and Chairman Calvert voted for that bill as did we--and a
bill like that is a more appropriate starting point for the
House of Representatives to conference with the Senate.
This bill again limits the ability for our government to
address disinformation. Our foreign adversaries are constantly
using social media to spread disinformation here at home in the
United States. This bill deprives the Department of Defense of
their responsibility to set facts straight. This is dangerous,
and it would have real national security implications here at
home and abroad.
During full committee consideration, the Committee adopted
amendments offered by the minority to uphold the Posse
Comitatus Act, secure funds for forensic support for victims of
sexual assault and prohibit funds for the transmission of
classified material over unsecured networks. We look forward to
working with the majority to ensure they are enacted into law.
Chairman Calvert also indicated a willingness to work with us
in conference to restore funds for life saving DoD medical
research programs.
Finally, this bill has been considered during a time of
remarkable upheaval for the Committee. Since the change of
Administration in January 2025 the executive branch has been
engaged in a rampant, unlawful, and unconstitutional disregard
for spending laws. In particular, the Office of Management and
Budget has been at the center of a government-wide effort to
thwart the intent of this Committee's laws in its actions,
while also unlawfully refusing to publish the agency's legally-
binding budget decisions (known as apportionments) in
contravention of an unambiguous and constitutionally sound
assertion of the Congress's authority to impose transparency
requirements upon the executive branch.
The current administration has stated--at times--an
inherent Presidential power to impound. However, while this
bill was approved over the objection of almost all Democrats on
the Committee, the debate and proceedings made unmistakably
clear, just as former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States William Rehnquist concluded (at the time an
Assistant Attorney General with the Department of Justice
Office):
``With respect to the suggestion that the President
has a constitutional power to decline to spend
appropriated funds, we must conclude that existence of
such a broad power is supported by neither reason nor
precedent.''
The laws considered and enacted by this Committee reflect
the legally binding expression of the Congress's constitutional
power of the purse, effectuated through the conditions and
permissions the Committee places on spending authority through
the Congress's Article I powers. Just as the Committee chooses
to allow or restrict the purpose for any purpose in the bill,
so too does the Committee decide the amount for which an
activity shall be funded. When the Committee allows the
flexibility of merely mandating a ceiling (or upper limit) or a
floor (lowest required level) for an activity, it does so in
contrast to every other instance where it has included a
specific amount, which unless otherwise stated is the
Congress's clear intent to be both a floor and a ceiling.
These perspectives are both uncontroversial and
longstanding principles on which all of the Committee's work
rests.
In closing, regrettably at this time, we will be unable to
support passage of this bill, but we look forward to working
with the majority to enact a bipartisan bill that strengthens
our national security.
Rosa DeLauro,
Ranking Member.
Betty McCollum.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]