Republicans unveil bill to lift defense by $150B

Congressional Republicans have released a budget reconciliation bill that would increase defense spending in the coming years by $150 billion, updating a previous draft proposal with new investment amounts.

The bill, which will be considered by the House Armed Services Committee, would provide:

• $33.7 billion for shipbuilding
• $24.7 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense system
• $20.4 billion for munitions
• $13.5 billion for “innovation”
• $12.9 billion for nuclear deterrence
• $11.5 billion for military readiness
• $11.1 billion for Pacific deterrence
• $8.5 billion for military quality of life
• $7.2 billion for aircraft
• $5 billion for border security
• $2 billion for military intelligence
• $380 million for the Pentagon audit

The numbers differ from a draft version of the bill shared with reporters last week, with the most significant changes coming to shipbuilding, with a $4.7 billion increase, and Golden Dome, seeing a $2.3 billion decrease.

Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees praised the defense portion of the reconciliation bill, which will be incorporated into a larger legislative package that does not need Democratic votes to pass.

“This legislation is a historic investment of $150 billion to restore America’s military capabilities and strengthen our national defense,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) said the bill is a “generational upgrade” in military capability.

“This is about building the future of American defense, achieving peace through strength, and ultimately deterring war,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), said he does not support the bill -- despite many areas of bipartisan agreement -- because the GOP’s overall reconciliation package will attempt to pay for tax cuts and defense investments by cutting important social programs.

“This legislation would increase defense spending by $150 billion through a partisan budget reconciliation gimmick," he said. "It will be paid for by devastating cuts that can only come from critical programs like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and student loan and grant programs at the Department of Education. And to add insult to injury, this will all be part of a legislative package that provides $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy but does nothing to lower costs for American families.”

The House committee is scheduled to convene Tuesday morning to consider the bill.

Meanwhile, shipbuilding highlights include:

• $5.4 billion for two DDG-51 destroyers
• $4.6 billion for a second Virginia-class submarine in fiscal year 2027
• $3.7 billion for the Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA) type amphibious assault ship program
• $2.7 billion for the T-AO oiler
• $2.1 billion for the the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock program.

Key aircraft program investments include:

• $3.15 billion for the F-15EX
• $678 million for Collaborative Combat Aircraft
• $500 million to accelerate the F/A-XX
• $474 million for EA-37Bs
• $400 million for C-130Js
• $400 million for the F-47
• $100 million got the MQ-25.

Golden Dome investments include:

• $7.2 billion for space-based sensors
• $5.6 billion for space-based intercept technology
• $2.4 billion for “non-kinetic” missile defense
• $2.2 billion for hypersonic missile defense
• $2 billion for air moving target indicator satellites
• $1.9 billion for ground-based
• $800 million for next-generation ICBM defense.

Other key investments include:

• $11.1 billion for the unfunded priorities list of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
• $4.5 billion for the B-21 bomber
• $2 billion for the Defense Innovation Unit to scale commercial technology for military use
• $2 billion for a nuclear sea-launched cruise missile
• $1.5 billion for the Sentinel ICBM replacement program.