The Senate passed a significant annual defense policy bill late Thursday, despite an ongoing government shutdown.
The Republican-led Congress voted 70-20 in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which allocates $924.7 billion for the U.S. military in the fiscal year 2026. This vote followed an earlier agreement among lawmakers to revive the stalled legislation.
With the bill’s approval, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees can commence the often challenging process of negotiating differences between the two chambers’ versions of the bills. Notably, the House’s NDAA, passed last month, has a much lower budget of approximately $893 billion.
The NDAA was introduced to the Senate floor in early September, but progress had been slow until Thursday morning. All 100 senators must consent to vote on amendments, and various disputes had previously paused the discussions.
However, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) consented to a vote on 17 individual amendments as well as nearly 50 less contentious ones.
“We cannot delay this process any longer,” Wicker stated on the Senate floor. “It’s important to understand that if we don’t act on this bill today, there won’t be enough time for proper debate, and only a small group of senators will end up writing the legislation. That’s not how this should work.”
As the evening continued, senators voted on and passed more than a dozen partisan amendments and 50 additional provisions before finalizing the bill.
Among the passed proposals was one from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) aimed at repealing the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force in Iraq, along with a similar measure from 1991 concerning the Gulf War.
Demonstrating bipartisanship, amendments backed by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) were included, enhancing the Pentagon’s authority to deal with drone threats to military facilities.
“We’ve observed hundreds of drones near military sites in recent years, including at sensitive locations like Langley Air Force Base,” Gillibrand remarked. “Current regulations constrain the Department of Defense’s ability to respond effectively to these threats, and the lack of cohesive interagency cooperation creates gaps that could jeopardize our military assets and personnel.”
On the other hand, some proposed amendments didn’t make the cut. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sought to prevent funding for alterations to Qatar’s luxury jet, which was accepted by President Trump as a replacement for Air Force One.
“Revamping this foreign luxury aircraft will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions. We should not waste that money,” Schumer argued.
Additionally, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) proposed an amendment that failed, which aimed to restrict President Trump and governors from deploying the National Guard across state lines if a governor or mayor opposed it.
Before the Senate passed the bill, lawmakers resolved issues raised by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who had stalled the NDAA over a bipartisan request to evaluate U.S. investments in China. She reportedly agreed to support the bill after receiving assurances that senators would address concerns raised by Microsoft, one of the state’s major employers.
One initiative that was dropped involved Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who pushed for a vote on excluding Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt from receiving military honors after she was shot during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots, as reported by Politico.
Updated at 10:55 p.m. EDT.
