Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026
Legislative Progress
IntroducedReceived
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Mr. Calvert, from the Committee on Appropriations, reported the following …
On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed H.R. 4016
Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to H.R. 4016
On Passage
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026
On Motion to Recommit
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026
On Agreeing to the Amendment
On Agreeing to the Amendment
On Agreeing to the Amendment
On Agreeing to the Amendment
On Agreeing to the Amendment
On Agreeing to the Amendment
On Agreeing to the Amendment
Summary
What This Bill Does
This is the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2026, which funds all military operations, personnel, equipment procurement, and research for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and defense agencies. It allocates hundreds of billions in appropriations while imposing numerous policy restrictions on how DoD funds can be used.
Who Benefits and How
- Defense contractors benefit from major procurement programs including shipbuilding, aircraft production, and missile defense systems (e.g., $500M for Israeli cooperative missile programs, funds for F-15, UH-60, E-7 aircraft).
- Domestic manufacturers benefit from Buy American provisions requiring U.S.-made steel, bearings, and ship components.
- Indian tribes receive housing conveyances, environmental mitigation funds ($19.8M), and procurement incentives under the Indian Financing Act ($35.2M).
- Fisher House Foundation receives $5M for military family housing during medical crises.
- Civil Air Patrol receives $79M for operations and aircraft procurement.
- Religious organizations and individuals are protected from discrimination based on traditional marriage beliefs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are defunded; DEI offices are prohibited from receiving funds.
- Gender-affirming care providers cannot use DoD funds for surgical procedures or hormone therapies.
- EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology are banned from receiving any DoD funds.
- NewsGuard Technologies is prohibited from receiving DoD funds.
- Critical Race Theory programs and related training are prohibited from receiving funds.
- Contractors using forced arbitration for sexual harassment claims face contract restrictions.
Key Provisions
- Allows up to $6B in emergency fund transfers between defense appropriations with congressional notification
- Requires domestic manufacture of key ship components (pumps, propellers, cranes) for TAO Fleet Oilers and FFG Frigates
- Appropriates $97.77M for defense industrial base capital assistance pilot program supporting up to $4.39B in loans/guarantees
- Reduces total appropriations by $8.75B through various efficiency measures including DOGE cooperation savings
- Protects specific weapons programs (UH-60 Blackhawk, E-7 Wedgetail, U-2) from divestment or cancellation
- Maintains Guantanamo Bay operations and prohibits transfer of detainees to U.S. soil
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Appropriates funds for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2026, including military personnel, operations, procurement, research and development, and various policy restrictions on use of funds
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Maintain robust defense funding while imposing conservative social policy restrictions on DEI, gender-affirming care, and CRT; strengthen domestic manufacturing through Buy American requirements; achieve deficit reduction through efficiency mandates"
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of National Intelligence
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Defense
- "military_department_secretary"
- → Secretary of Army/Navy/Air Force (context-dependent)
Note: 'The Secretary' generally refers to Secretary of Defense but in specific sections refers to the Secretary of the military department responsible for procurement (Army, Navy, or Air Force)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives, the Armed Services Committee of the Senate, the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate
The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate
Chapter 83 of title 41, United States Code
Any recognized Indian tribe included on the current list published by the Secretary of the Interior under section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe Act of 1994
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology