Will lawmakers finish a full-year FY26 defense appropriation before the continuing resolution deadline?

Will lawmakers finish a full-year FY26 defense appropriation before the continuing resolution deadline?

Published:

August 29, 2025

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Updated:

August 29, 2025

Defense Budgets / Policy

Peter Johansson

 US Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brittany Primavera

WASHINGTON – Congress returns on Sept. 2 with 28 days before FY25 funds expire on Sept. 30. The House already passed its FY26 Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 4016) in July. On July 31, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its own FY26 defense bill and cleared three non-defense measures on the floor. Senate leaders also set Sept. 2 for the first vote to proceed to the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act. Staff on both sides expect a short term continuing resolution in September to keep the government open while talks continue.

The core question hangs over everything: do leaders have the votes, time and alignment to finish a full year defense bill in the fall, or does the Pentagon face another long stretch at last year’s levels?

The chambers drew different lines on the defense topline and on several flagship programs. The House bill funds the Department of Defense at $831.5 billion, essentially flat to FY25 under the full year continuing resolution in place since March.

The Senate bill stands near $852.5 billion for DOD accounts, roughly $21.7 billion above the administration’s discretionary request, with extra emphasis on munitions, shipbuilding and sixth generation aviation.

Both chambers moved ahead of final action on the broader budget package the White House previewed in May, which also points to a separate reconciliation bill that sets aside additional mandatory defense resources.

On policy, the authorization track shows the same divide. The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced an NDAA that supports $925 billion for national defense, including $878.7 billion for the Pentagon and $35.2 billion for the Department of Energy nuclear programs.

The House Armed Services Committee sits closer to the $848.3 billion base request for DOD. Leadership set the Senate debate on the NDAA for the first week back from recess. The House has not set floor time.

Here are a dozen decisions that will decide whether Congress can close a final FY26 defense agreement before the calendar runs out.

Topline and the odds of a long CR

Ukraine assistance and allied security lines

F-35 procurement and sustainment mix

Munitions surge funding and multi-year buys

Shipbuilding adds and the submarine industrial base

Landing Ship Medium path and amphibious lift

F/A-XX sixth-generation naval fighter funding

E-7 Wedgetail course correction after the cancellation call

A-10 inventory floor and Air Force fleet shaping

JLTV: services’ pause versus appropriators’ add

Improved Turbine Engine Program restart cash

“Golden Dome” missile defense architecture and scope
Can Congress lock the FY26 topline and avoid another continuing resolution?

The House passed its $831.5 billion defense bill by mid-July and sent it to the Senate. The measure tracks the administration’s OMB topline for discretionary defense and adds a 3.8% military pay raise that begins Jan. 1, 2026. It also makes sharp policy choices on workforce and social provisions, and they will complicate a final conference. On the Senate side, appropriators approved an $852.45 billion bill on July 31 that adds billions for munitions, lifts shipbuilding to roughly $29.3 billion inside the bill, and restores several programs the administration tried to slow or cancel. The Senate already passed a small three bill package unrelated to defense, but the Pentagon bill will move later.

None of the 12 full-year FY26 appropriations bills is law. Leaders in both parties say they will need a stopgap in September. The CR that funded FY25 for the entire year took effect March 15 and still sets the backdrop for operations. Staff expect a short extension in September to avert a lapse, with “anomalies” to cover priority items that cannot wait. A second extension remains possible if the chambers deadlock on the defense topline and on policy riders.

The Senate’s FY26 NDAA supports $925 billion for national defense, sets personnel end strength by service, carries the 3.8% raise, and puts hard limits on certain retirements and divestitures. Senate leaders filed cloture to begin debate on Sept. 2. The House version sits closer to the base request and still lacks a floor slot. The two authorization bills will set the frame for conference work by appropriators, but the dollars still depend on a bicameral deal with the White House.

FY26 procurement changes F-35 counts munitions surge and shipbuilding

The F-35 buy shows the sharpest split. The Pentagon asked for 47 jets across the services for FY26 after months of delay in releasing the request. The House lifts that to 69 aircraft: 42 F-35A, 13 F-35B, and 14 F-35C. The Senate focuses on sustainment and engines for the current fleet, adds spare F135 engines and parts, and sticks closer to the request on quantities. In its policy bill, the Senate also authorizes 34 F-35As for the Air Force. The likely conference trade is clear – fewer new tails than the House wants, but more money for readiness and spares than the request carried.

Munitions move up across the board under the Senate plan. Committee material cites a $5.2 billion increase to buy extra rounds and refill depleted stocks, with focus from artillery shells to high end air defense interceptors and anti-ship weapons. Senior senators say their bill adds $7.3 billion to fully fund and expand production capacity beyond the initial request. The House funds advanced missiles and long-range strike programs, and uses multiyear procurement authorities that the industry asked for. Shipyard and supplier bottlenecks will set the pace. Senators try to offset them with line item cash for workforce and facilities.

Ship construction is another swing factor. House appropriators direct the Navy to fund 28 ships and stack $36.9 billion across the accounts, including two Virginia-class submarines, one Columbia-class ballistic missile sub, two DDG-51 destroyers, and a TAGOS ocean surveillance ship. They also set aside $1.5 billion for the maritime industrial base and $1.6 billion for productivity upgrades at private nuclear yards, plus wage supplements for that workforce. The Senate raises shipbuilding funds by $8.7 billion inside its topline to about $29.3 billion for DOD’s share, and adds $2.7 billion for the submarine industrial base. Expect a final number high enough to satisfy submarine advocates and to pay for a third DDG-51, with conditions on schedule recovery and supplier performance.

Medium landing ships sit in a narrow but consequential lane. The House bill includes $225 million to start the Marine Corps Landing Ship Medium, an effort that uses commercial standards and a Vessel Construction Manager model to cut cost and time. Senate authorizers back the concept with a block buy cap of up to 15 ships in law, and they tie funds to clearer Navy management and updated schedules. If a CR stretches well into FY26 the first tranche of cash sits idle and the program slips further.

Near-term program pressure JLTV ITEP A-10 E-7 Landing Ship Medium

JLTV now tests congressional intent versus service plans. The Army told lawmakers it will halt new JLTV buys in FY26, and the Marine Corps cut its own plan. House appropriators went the other way with $345 million for 863 Army JLTVs and $169 million for 224 Marine Corps vehicles. Senate authorizers support the Marines adding 224 and press the service to refresh its acquisition approach after the Army pivot. JLTV ranks among the likeliest items to survive conference, since both chambers, through different bills, show continued interest.

The Improved Turbine Engine Program for Army helicopters flat lined in the request but returns in both chambers’ work. The Senate defense bill adds $175 million to keep ITEP in motion, which signals continued skepticism of a hard stop while aviation modernization remains unfinished. House materials match that figure. If a CR runs deep into the year, appropriators will need an anomaly to award any new ITEP contracts.

The A-10 question still lingers. The Senate NDAA requires the Air Force to retain at least 103 A-10s in FY26, which blocks a full retirement in the near term and buys time for aircrew instruction pipelines and replacement capacity. House authorizers are more open to the transition in their bill, but the final policy text will likely include a minimum floor for FY26. That floor ripples into maintenance and depot plans as long as it stands.

The E-7 Wedgetail sits in a gray zone after the Air Force moved to cancel the program on survivability and cost grounds earlier this summer. House appropriators still include $500 million for further work. Senate appropriators go further with $647 million for “early warning and control and battle management mission aircraft,” and Senate authorizers cut nearly the entire FY26 request for E-2D Hawkeye, call it a program cancellation, and prod the Navy to revisit airborne early warning across the carrier force. The result is a three way negotiation: what replaces older E-3 coverage, what the Navy will fly from the deck after E-2D, and how much risk combatant commanders will accept in the interim. Defense officials say options on the table include limited E-7 risk reduction work, airborne battle management upgrades, and wider sensor fusion from off board sources.

Personnel and quality of life lines draw bipartisan attention. Both chambers fund the 3.8% pay raise. Senate materials stress barracks renovations and childcare fee assistance, while the House highlights pay steps for junior enlisted carried over from last year and added support for family programs through O&M lines. These items usually survive the conference because they tie directly to retention. A CR would delay some construction work and slow award dates.

How Ukraine assistance and missile defense tie into F/A-XX development

Ukraine aid splits the chambers. The House defense bill includes no Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative money. The Senate appropriations bill writes in about $800 million for USAI and $225 million for the Baltic Security Initiative, and the Senate NDAA authorizes $500 million for USAI. Reconciliation will test leaders, but bipartisan votes in committee point to enough support for some Ukraine funding in the final package.

Missile defense and homeland defense get more structure this cycle. The Senate authorization text revises national missile defense policy, codifies a Direct Reporting Program Manager for “Golden Dome,” and orders an end to end test regime with added telemetry assets. House appropriators allocate roughly $13 billion across Missile Defense Agency and Space Force programs to move toward the Golden Dome. The documents point to sensor and interceptor layers across orbits and regions, plus supporting test infrastructure. Industry sources say integrator teams mapped early spirals that rely on current programs of record, then add new discrimination and kill chain software as budgets open.

The Navy’s sixth generation fighter, often labeled F/A-XX, now reads as a proxy for industrial base priorities. The administration trimmed the near term profile, favored other aviation lines, and pushed some work to the unfunded list. House appropriators still provide $972 million for F/A-XX development. Senate appropriators restore about $1.4 billion to advance the effort now, paired with guardrails on classified enablers and direction to the Navy to define its EMD schedule. The money backs a carrier air wing pivot that pairs manned fighters with uncrewed aircraft, while the Air Force advances its own next generation line.

On munitions and shipyards, the Senate bill leans into production capacity. It adds surge lines, supplier development, and workforce programs at private yards. House language echoes parts of that push and piles on funds for Virginia and Columbia class submarines, destroyers, and maritime sealift. Our analysis points to a conference outcome that keeps the submarine industrial base increasing, adds at least one surface combatant above the request, and settles F-35 near the low to mid 50s with a clear bias to sustainment dollars to improve availability in the near term.

What it takes to pass this year

The path to a full year defense appropriation before December rests on four moves. First, leaders need agreement on a defense topline in the mid $840s to mid $850s for DOD discretionary, plus clarity on any separate reconciliation funds the administration plans to execute in FY26. Second, committees must reconcile Ukraine assistance and allied security lines. The votes exist in the Senate. The House floor remains the question. Third, the chambers have to pick a lane on flagship aviation and maritime programs – F-35 quantity versus sustainment, F/A-XX timing, E-7 and E-2D replacement paths, and the scale of shipbuilding adds. Finally, they have to manage the calendar. The Senate begins the NDAA debate on Sept. 2. The House will move its defense policy bill later. Appropriators will need at least one CR to avoid a lapse on Oct. 1 while they close a conference.

None of these steps require a grand bargain. They do require a short, disciplined set of trades that protect pay, keep production lines on realistic schedules, and avoid a second straight year stuck at last year’s levels. The votes are close, but the framework for a deal sits on paper now – a defense topline near the Senate number, targeted funds for Ukraine and the Baltics, a blended F-35 outcome with extra spares and engines, a shipbuilding slate with two attack submarines, one Columbia, and an extra DDG-51, a modest JLTV compromise focused on the Marine Corps, and a documented plan for airborne early warning that bridges the period after E-2D while the services test alternatives. The sooner leadership locks those trades, the easier it will be to write the anomalies that keep new starts on track if a short CR stretches past October.

REFERENCE SOURCES

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2025/06/26/pentagon-to-request-848-billion-in-delayed-base-budget-release/

https://www.congress.gov/crs-appropriations-status-table

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4016/text

https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-passes-fy26-defense-bill-investing-americas-military-superiority

https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/fy26-defense-bill-summary.pdf

https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy26_defense_senate_bill_summary.pdf

https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/senate-committee-approves-fy-2026-defense-appropriations-bill

https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy2026_ndaa_executive_summary.pdf

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2296

https://www.crfb.org/blogs/appropriations-watch-fy-2026

https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/where-do-fy-2026-appropriations-stand/

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/01/senate-passes-first-funding-package-ahead-of-september-shutdown-cliff-00489731

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1968/text

https://www.crfb.org/blogs/appropriations-watch-fy-2025

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-committee-backs-1-billion-ukraine-pentagon-spending-bill-2025-07-31/

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-congress-seeks-boost-navy-air-force-fleets-2026-bill-2025-06-11/

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2025/07/11/some-a-10-warthogs-may-dodge-retirement-under-proposed-senate-bill/

https://breakingdefense.com/2025/07/sasc-defense-policy-bill-adds-billions-for-arleigh-burke-destroyer-sentinel-icbm-programs/

https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2026/FY2026_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf

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