Democrats to challenge Pentagon’s $1.5T budget request, aim for under $1T

By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

Following a triumphant election night, Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee are vowing to rein in the national defense budget for fiscal year 2027, saying they will reject the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion request.

“We must push for the development of a more realistic and sustainable approach to our national security – one that does not require a defense budget in excess of $1 trillion or one paid for with draconian cuts to critical domestic programs,” HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith, D-Wash., said.

Smith also said in a statement the committee plans to “conduct vigorous oversight of the Department of Defense” and “reform the way resources are spent and accounted for.” Despite accounting for 17% of annual federal spending, the Pentagon is the only federal department to never pass a full audit.

Congress is behind on passing the National Defense Authorization Act – which authorizes annual Pentagon spending toplines and programs – as well as the FY 2027 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, which provides the actual funds.

Currently, both the Senate and House NDAA versions, which lawmakers must meld at some point, have roughly the same topline, about $1.15 trillion. The defense appropriations bill, which has a slightly narrower scope than the NDAA, appropriates about $1.07 trillion in spending.

Republicans had planned on providing the remaining roughly $350 billion requested to the White House in a party-line budget reconciliation bill.

But with only an eight-week lame duck session left before Republicans cede power, it is unlikely they will be able to hammer out the NDAA, the appropriations bill, and the budget reconciliation bill in time.

Though Republicans will likely try to tackle both during the lame duck session when they still have control of Congress, they’ll have scarce time to do so.

Additionally, it is uncertain how much of an appetite congressional Democrats, who are invigorated by massive wins during the midterms and angry about the administration’s ongoing unauthorized military operations in Iran, have for bipartisanship.

However, even if lawmakers extend current defense funding levels and punt the bills to January when the Democrat-controlled 120th Congress is sworn in, Democrats won’t have enough votes to override a veto from the president.

That means that while Democrats would be able to tank Republicans’ $350 billion defense funding supplemental, they likely wouldn’t be able to force through a ban on defense appropriations going toward funding the Iran conflict, which many have expressed a desire to do.

Smith and Democrats do intend to ramp up oversight activities in the 120th Congress and “demand public transparency and accountability from senior Pentagon officials through increased public testimony,”

“The list of potential oversight topics is long, but the illegal war against Iran is top of mind for me and the American people,” Smith added. “I am confident that we can address these issues and many more in the coming Congress.”