WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders released the text of its defense and national security package on Sunday evening, eyeing a vote as early as this week to pass its annual legislation authorizing the Pentagon budget.
The multibillion-dollar National Defense Authorization Act was finalized after weeks of negotiations between GOP leadership and rank-and-file Republicans, totaling about $8 billion more than what was initially requested in the president’s budget. The House will move forward with a vote in the coming days, according to Republican leadership aides.
“This legislation includes important House-passed provisions to ensure our military forces remain the most lethal in the world and can deter any adversary,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement. “It roots out Biden-era wokeism in our military and restores merit-based promotions and admissions to service academies, prohibits contracts with partisan firms, counters antisemitism, and halts harmful, unnecessary programs like CRT, DEI, and climate initiatives.”
The 3,086-page bill encompasses multiple provisions aimed toward strengthening security at the southern border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and undoing certain Pentagon policies enacted during the Biden administration that current officials consider to be “woke ideology.”
The bill codifies at least 15 of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, including those related to building physical barriers and deploying more troops to the southern border; constructing the Golden Dome missile defense system; and modernizing the development of weapons, among other things.
Although Trump has the authority to mandate those policies through executive orders, Congress must pass a bill to ensure they’re enacted into law.
Controversial measure requiring FBI to notify Congress of investigations
Included in the bill is a controversial measure that was agreed upon last week due to high-ranking rebellion in the Republican Party, which would require the FBI to notify Congress if the agency opens an investigation into federal candidates.
The measure was initially blocked by leadership over concerns it would deter Democratic support on a bill that typically passes with bipartisan support. But after Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a member of GOP leadership, publicly criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., over removing the provision, tensions quickly escalated.
Stefanik and Johnson held a phone call together with Trump last week to sort out the disagreement, after which the New York congresswoman said the provision would be included.
Reversing president’s decadelong war authority
Tucked into the bill is language repealing two decades-old Authorizations for Use of Military Force that would restrict the president’s war authority in Iraq.
The bill would undo the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs that authorized the U.S. to expel Saddam Hussein from Kuwait and authorized the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have sought to undo those authorizations for years, arguing they are no longer needed after the dismantling of the Hussein regime.
However, advocates have argued the authorizations should remain intact in case the sitting president needs to respond to a new threat. Although the president is the commander in chief, Congress holds certain war powers that gives it control over authorizing military action and issuing formal declarations of war.
House Republican aides say after talks with the White House, it was determined that the “Trump administration is confident that the President can carry out his constitutional responsibilities without this authority.”
Raise for service members
The NDAA includes a pay raise for all service members, as has become commonplace every year.
The 2026 NDAA implements a 4% raise for active military members, and reinstates merit-based promotions and admissions to service academies.
Republican leaders strip health care coverage for IVF
One of the most contested provisions that was stripped from the NDAA is language that would expand health care coverage for assisted reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization, or IVF.
The provision was initially included in previous versions of the NDAA, but it was ultimately removed.
Although the measure was stripped, the speaker’s office has maintained Johnson “has clearly and repeatedly stated he is supportive of access to IVF when sufficient pro-life protections are in place, and he will continue to be supportive when it is done responsibly and ethically.”
Crackdown on U.S. investments in China
Much of the national security bill also includes language restricting certain U.S. investments in China, which was one of the final outstanding issues negotiated by lawmakers last week.
Lawmakers have worked for years to establish tougher restrictions on outbound investments, referring to money that U.S. companies or investors place into Chinese businesses or technologies. The bill states that restrictions are necessary to “to prevent harm to United States national security and foreign policy interests.”
The NDAA does that by including the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act, which blocks some investments by imposing sanctions on certain Chinese entities, requiring notification of investments by U.S. companies into China, and blocking capital flows that would benefit the Chinese government.
“President Trump has made clear the past few decades of investments propping up Communist China’s aggression must come to an end, and this bill includes important guardrails to protect America’s long-term investments, economic interests, and sensitive data,” Johnson said in a statement. “Under President Trump, the U.S. is rebuilding strength, restoring deterrence, and proving America will not back down.”