The US Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to advance a $901bn defence bill setting policy for the Pentagon, sending the legislation to the White House, which has said Donald Trump will sign it into law. The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorises a record $901bn in annual military spending, including a 4% pay rise for troops and purchases of military equipment.
The bill includes $800m for Ukraine as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, with $400m allocated in each of the next two years. It also authorises the Baltic Security Initiative, providing $175m to support the defence of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Additionally, it limits the Department of Defense’s ability to reduce US forces in Europe below 76,000 and bars the US European commander from relinquishing the title of Nato supreme commander.
The Senate backed the bill by 77 to 20, with strong bipartisan support, following House passage last week. In a break with Trump, whose fellow Republicans hold majorities in both chambers, the NDAA includes several provisions to boost European security, despite Trump’s recent national security strategy seen as friendly to Russia.
The NDAA does not include funding to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a change Trump desires but cannot implement without congressional approval. However, it does incorporate some “culture war” measures, such as a ban on transgender women participating in women’s athletic programmes at US military academies.
Members of Congress take pride in passing the NDAA annually for over six decades. This month, a handful of senators from both parties called for added helicopter safety rules after a fatal crash between an army Black Hawk and an American Airlines jet that killed 67 people, but anger over the issue was insufficient to delay the bill.
