The Senate passed a massive party-line spending package Tuesday, including a one-time surge in defense spending the Pentagon is counting on for its upcoming fiscal year 2026 budget.
By a vote of 51-50 — with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie — the chamber advanced the vast tax, healthcare and border security bill President Donald Trump has championed as key to his legislative agenda.
That 940-page “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” also features $150 billion in funding for the military, which would go toward shipbuilding, the Golden Dome homeland missile defense project, munitions and other key priorities.
The bill next goes back to the House for final consideration. Trump has set a deadline of July 4 to pass the spending package out of that chamber, though some lawmakers in the House have already said they’re unlikely to approve the bill before the end of the week.
The Pentagon has argued this package should be counted as part of the DOD’s overall defense budget plan for the coming year, and defense officials moved spending priorities usually reserved for its base spending plan into the one-time package.
In its delayed spending request last week, the Defense Department issued an $848 million base budget request, which is a cut when accounting for inflation. That said, the Pentagon is counting on $113 billion in immediate funding from the supplemental spending bill in Congress, bringing the total for military spending closer to $960 billion.
Still, many top Republicans and Democrats in Congress have argued that the unusual arrangement will cause unnecessary confusion for the Pentagon and the defense industry responsible for major weapons programs.
In a briefing to describe the funding request, senior defense and military officials countered this argument, saying the immediate surge in funding may reassure some of these companies, which are accustomed to Congress starting the fiscal year on temporary spending plans known as continuing resolutions.
One official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the administration would likely keep military funding close to $1 trillion for next year as well, though it hasn’t yet decided on an appropriate baseline.
If not, the Defense Department will face extremely difficult choices when deciding how to factor the priorities included in the one-time spending package back into its yearly budget.
Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.
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