How a $901 billion plan changes US military policy
Congress’s proposed National Defense Authorization Act weighs in on boat strikes, drones, DEI, foreign investment and fights overseas.
The $901 billion defense-policy bill passed by the House would codify more than a dozen of President Trump’s executive orders, authorizing major weapons programs, troop deployments and international-security assistance. The Senate is expected to take it up in the week ahead.
The 3,086-page National Defense Authorization Act authorizes $8 billion more than what Trump requested in May and contains a 3.8% pay increase for troops. While the bill authorizes spending levels in defense accounts, actual appropriations must be passed separately by Congress.
Here is what is in the bill:
Boat strikes
The legislation would withhold some Pentagon funds until Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth turns over unedited video footage of military strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The move reflects growing bipartisan frustration with how little the administration has disclosed about its expanding campaign of boat strikes.
Support for Ukraine
The bill sets a floor for U.S. force levels in Europe of 76,000 troops and bars the Pentagon from cutting forces, closing facilities or moving equipment without consulting NATO allies and certifying that such moves are in the national interest. It extends through 2029 the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, authorizing $400 million annually to buy weapons from U.S. defense companies. Congress would have to be informed if U.S. intelligence provided to Ukraine is paused or scaled back.
Military presence in Asia
The bill extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which highlights military spending in Asia, and orders a military exercise testing the Pentagon’s readiness to effect a surge in troops and supplies in the event of a crisis with China. It calls for a review of how well the military can move and keep forces supplied across all branches in a major conflict or emergency, and requires the Air Force to integrate new tasks into exercises with Japan, Australia, South Korea, the U.K. and others.
Iraq war authorizations
The legislation scraps the decades-old authorizations for the use of military force that provided the legal basis for the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Presidents from both parties have relied on these authorizations for military operations long after major combat ended.
Partnership with Israel
The bill boosts U.S.-Israeli cooperation on defense technology, provides $80 million for joint research into countering adversaries in underground tunnels and $70 million for counterdrone programs.
Repeal of Syria sanctions
The bill repeals the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, which imposed sanctions on Syria’s government and other entities related to the country’s civil war.
D.C.-area airspace
The bill rolls back some safety rules for military helicopters in the busy Washington, D.C., area airspace that were put in place after a midair collision in January 2025 in which 67 people died. The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, along with the bipartisan Senate committee that oversees aviation, warned that this change would make the airspace less safe.
Restrictions on outbound investment
The legislation empowers the president to block Americans from buying significant equity or debt in some foreign companies, particularly those that are based in China, Hong Kong or Macau, operating in defense or surveillance sectors or controlled by state actors or Chinese Communist Party officials. The bill requires U.S. companies to report “national security-sensitive" transactions.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
The bill broadly prohibits Pentagon programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, though it preserves existing Equal Employment Opportunity offices and those focused on the Americans with Disabilities Act. It extends merit-based decision-making to command selection in addition to accession and promotion.
Shipbuilding authorization
Lawmakers authorized up to five Columbia-class submarines and two Ford-class aircraft carriers, and multiyear procurement of munitions including SM-3 and SM-6 missiles, Tomahawks and both air-to-air and standoff missile systems.
The legislation directs the Army to produce critical materials currently sourced solely from China, such as propellants and some precursor chemicals.
Prohibition on foreign components
The bill restricts purchases of critical materials and components from “foreign entities of concern," including China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. New acquisition programs starting in 2028 can’t use advanced batteries linked to these countries.
It calls for eliminating the purchase of optical systems, computer displays and other equipment by 2030 from foreign adversaries. Seafood for military dining facilities may not be sourced from these countries.
Drones defense
The bill creates a task force to approve and oversee technology that can detect and stop small drones, as well as measures to protect bases and other sites from them. The legislation calls for tighter rules and research on protecting nuclear facilities from unmanned systems.
What didn’t make it in
Several proposals were removed during negotiations, including expansion of military coverage of in vitro fertilization, collective-bargaining protections for Defense Department civilian employees, military-housing changes and language governing a potential central-bank digital currency.
The bill refers to the Pentagon chief as the secretary of defense rather than Trump’s preferred title for the role, secretary of war.
This explanatory article may be periodically updated.
Write to Anvee Bhutani at anvee.bhutani@wsj.com
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