Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026
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Would appropriate FY2026 funding for the full range of Department of Defense military activities — military personnel pay, operations and maintenance, weapons procurement, shipbuilding, research and development, the Defense Health Program, and intelligence accounts — totaling hundreds of billions of dollars for all active-duty, Reserve, and National Guard components.
The bill also attaches more than 170 general-provision policy riders that would ban funds for gender-affirming care, DEI offices, and Critical Race Theory programs; restrict Guantanamo detainee transfers; provide $500 million each for Israeli missile defense and Taiwan security cooperation; and reduce the total appropriation by roughly $9.75 billion through DOGE-related savings and efficiency offsets.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would appropriate FY2026 funding for every major DoD budget category except military construction, family housing, Army Corps civil works, and nuclear warheads. It covers military personnel pay and allowances for active-duty Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force personnel as well as all Reserve and National Guard components; operation and maintenance for all branches; procurement of aircraft, missiles, ships, tracked vehicles, and ammunition; research, development, test and evaluation; revolving management funds; the Defense Health Program (including TRICARE); chemical-agent destruction; drug interdiction; and the Office of Inspector General. Related-agency appropriations include the CIA Retirement and Disability System Fund and the Intelligence Community Management Account. Separate set-asides would fund a $500 million Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, $500 million for Israeli missile defense systems, $357.5 million for the Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund, and $1.5 billion in additional military readiness funding.
Title VIII contains more than 170 general provisions that shape how the money may be spent. These include prohibitions on gender-affirming surgical procedures and hormone therapies, gender transition services through the Exceptional Family Member Program, DEI offices and programs, Critical Race Theory training, COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates, and use of funds contrary to a traditional-marriage religious-belief protection. The bill also restricts dealings with adversary-nation laboratories (including the Wuhan Institute of Virology), bars fund transfers to EcoHealth Alliance, maintains Guantanamo detainee transfer and closure restrictions, enforces Buy American requirements, and reduces the total appropriation by approximately $9.75 billion through four separate offsets tied to DOGE savings, favorable fuel rates, and general efficiency measures.
Key provisions
- 1Would appropriate military personnel pay and allowances for active-duty Army ($52.5B), Navy ($40.1B), Marine Corps ($16.6B), Air Force ($38.1B), Space Force ($1.3B), and all Reserve and National Guard components.
- 2Would appropriate $36,935,236,000 for Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy — covering Columbia Class and Virginia Class submarines, two aircraft carriers, DDG-51 destroyers, a frigate, and multiple auxiliary vessels — available through FY2030.
- 3Would appropriate $40,917,184,000 for the Defense Health Program, including TRICARE contracts, congressionally directed medical research, and at least $14M for HIV prevention in Africa; would require quarterly electronic health record reporting.
- 4Would set aside $500,000,000 for Israeli Cooperative Programs, including Iron Dome ($60M), Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense ($127M), Arrow 3 Upper Tier co-production ($100M), and the Arrow System Improvement Program ($173M).
- 5Would provide $500,000,000 for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative to procure defense articles, services, and military education and training for Taiwan, with quarterly reporting to Congress.
- 6Would prohibit use of any funds for surgical procedures or hormone therapies for gender-affirming care, for DEI offices or programs, for Critical Race Theory training, or for implementing named DEI-related executive orders.
- 7Would reduce total appropriations by $3B (DOGE/reconciliation savings), $3.75B (DOGE cooperation), $1B (fuel rates), and $1B (efficiency measures), with all reductions excluding National Intelligence Program and Military Intelligence Program funds.
Who would be affected
Active-duty service members and their families (pay, TRICARE health care, and dependent school policies); Reserve and National Guard personnel; defense contractors subject to Buy American requirements; foreign security partners receiving U.S. training and equipment (Taiwan, Israel, Jordan, Counter-ISIS forces); DoD civilian employees subject to personnel policy riders; intelligence community agencies; and institutions conducting research funded by the Defense Health Program or defense R&D accounts.
Why it matters
The bill funds the entire non-nuclear, non-construction defense enterprise for one fiscal year, making it the single largest annual driver of U.S. military readiness, pay, and acquisition. Its Title VIII riders go well beyond typical fiscal conditions, imposing durable policy restrictions on personnel matters (gender-affirming care, DEI, COVID mandates) and foreign assistance (Taiwan, Israel, Guantanamo) that would affect service members, contractors, and partner nations for the full fiscal year and, in some cases, beyond.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends CHIPS Act of 2022 (section 102, div. A of Public Law 117-167) (Sec. 8121)
Requires Secretary of Defense to allocate CHIPS for America Defense Fund FY2026 amounts per congressional tables within 45 days; restricts President's discretionary allocation authority during a DoD appropriations period.
Creates 10 U.S.C. § 149(e) (DoD industrial base capital assistance) (Sec. 8126)
Establishes a Department of Defense Credit Program Account pilot, appropriating $97,770,000 to subsidize up to $4.39 billion in loans and loan guarantees to support defense industrial base investment.
Reauthorizes Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98 et seq.) (Sec. 8162)
Appropriates an additional $90 million for the National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund, including $10 million specifically for titanium requirements.
Amends Indian Financing Act of 1974 (25 U.S.C. 1544) (Sec. 8019)
Extends incentive-payment eligibility to prime and subcontractors at any tier that subcontract with Indian-owned or tribal firms on DoD contracts over $500,000.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- All appropriations available for obligation for FY2026 unless otherwise specified
- National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account procurement funds available
- Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy funds available for obligation
- CHIPS Act FY2026 allocation by Secretary of Defense
- Northern Command restrictions on Mexico activities take effect
- Report on Army 250th birthday parade expenses published publicly
- Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund available for obligation
- National Defense Stockpile additional appropriation (Sec. 8162) available
Funding and costs
- $52,502,044,000
Military personnel pay and allowances, Army active duty
- $40,053,124,000
Military personnel pay and allowances, Navy active duty
- $38,141,269,000
Military personnel pay and allowances, Air Force active duty
- $36,935,236,000
Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy — submarines, carriers, destroyers, auxiliary vessels
- $51,120,258,000
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force
- $40,917,184,000
Defense Health Program, including TRICARE, medical research, and congressionally directed programs
- $500,000,000
Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative — defense articles, services, and military training for Taiwan
- $500,000,000
Israeli Cooperative Programs — Iron Dome, Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense, Arrow 3, Arrow System Improvement
- $1,500,000,000
Additional military readiness funding transferable to Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force O&M accounts
- $357,516,000
Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund for training, equipment, and sustainment of anti-ISIS forces
- $1,149,304,000
Drug interdiction and counter-drug activities, including National Guard counter-drug programs and drug demand reduction
- $800,000,000
National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account for rotary-wing aircraft, vehicles, and weapons
- $514,000,000
CIA Retirement and Disability System Fund
- $642,000,000
Intelligence Community Management Account
- $97,770,000
DoD Credit Program Account pilot for capital assistance to defense industrial base, subsidizing up to $4.39B in loans
- $90,000,000
Additional National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund, including $10M for titanium
- $49,000,000
Grants to United Service Organizations ($24M) and Red Cross ($25M)
- $79,000,000
Civil Air Patrol Corporation operations, aircraft procurement, and vehicle procurement
How implementation would work
The bill operates through annual appropriations: each title funds a specific budget category, with funds available for obligation during FY2026 (and in some cases through FY2028 or FY2030 for multi-year procurement). Title VIII general provisions create spending conditions enforced by the Comptroller and Inspector General. Transfer authority (Sec. 8005, up to $6B) allows the Secretary of Defense, with OMB approval, to shift funds for unforeseen needs after notifying Congress. The bill requires dozens of quarterly and periodic reports to the congressional defense committees on topics including electronic health records, CHIPS Act execution, Counter-ISIS fund use, Taiwan and Israeli program status, and DOGE savings implementation. Most policy prohibitions are self-executing funding conditions rather than regulatory mandates.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (CR S8522)
Official CRS summary
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This bill provides FY2026 appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for military activities.
(The bill excludes military construction, military family housing, civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, and nuclear warheads, which are all included in other appropriations bills.)
Within the DOD budget, the bill provides appropriations for
- Military Personnel;
- Operation and Maintenance;
- Procurement;
- Research, Development, Test and Evaluation; and
- Revolving and Management Funds.
The bill provides appropriations for Other Department of Defense Programs, including
- the Defense Health Program,
- Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction,
- Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, and
- the Office of the Inspector General.
In addition, the bill provides appropriations for Related Agencies, including (1) the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund, and (2) the Intelligence Community Management Account.
The bill also sets forth requirements and restrictions for using funds provided by this and other appropriations acts.
Legislative subjects
Africa; American Samoa; Appropriations; Asia; Aviation and airports; Budget process; Buy American requirements; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); Chemical and biological weapons; China; Collective security; Computers and information technology; Congressional oversight; Defense spending; Department of Defense; Disability assistance; District of Columbia; Drug trafficking and controlled substances; Drug, alcohol, tobacco use; Economics and Public Finance; Environmental assessment, monitoring, research; Europe; Executive agency funding and structure; Family planning and birth control; Federal appellate courts; Federal-Indian relations; Firearms and explosives; Foreign aid and international relief; Government information and archives; Government trust funds; Guam; HIV/AIDS; Hawaii; Hazardous wastes and toxic substances; Health information and medical records; Health promotion and preventive care; Higher education; Idaho; Illinois; Indian lands and resources rights; Infectious and parasitic diseases; Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information; Internet, web applications, social media; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Land transfers; Latin America; Licensing and registrations; Manufacturing; Marine and inland water transportation; Medical education; Medical research; Metals; Micronesia; Middle East; Military education and training; Military medicine; Military personnel and dependents; Military procurement, research, weapons development; Minnesota; Missing persons; Montana; Motor vehicles; National Guard and reserves; Nevada; North Dakota; North Korea; Northern Mariana Islands; Oregon; Palau; Performance measurement; Public contracts and procurement; Russia; Sex and reproductive health; Solid waste and recycling; South Dakota; Specialized courts; Strategic materials and reserves; Syria; Taiwan; Terrorism; Transportation costs; U.S. territories and protectorates; Venezuela; Veterans' medical care; Wages and earnings; Washington State
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-162