By Ken Miller, AOC Director of Advocacy & Outreach
The FY 2027 Defense Appropriations Act – not to be confused with the National Defense Authorization Act – saw its first progress as the House Appropriations Committee reported its version of the Defense Appropriations Act on June 24.
The bill provides $1.072 trillion to support the Department of Defense. The NDAA authorizes the money that the Defense Appropriations Act provides. The jurisdictions of both committees are also different, so the numbers in each bill rarely align, but that’s normal. The AOC did not sponsor any requests in this bill because we historically do not advance earmarks unless there is a glaring shortfall that needs to be addressed.
With the reporting of the Defense Appropriations Act, all 12 appropriations bills have passed the House committee process and await final passage on the House floor. Unfortunately, it is unclear when the bill will be brought forward for a vote. Less progress has been made in the Senate and most experts expect that no individual appropriations bill will be signed into law before the end of FY 2026 on September 30. Rather, we should expect a continuing resolution until after the November congressional elections before any plans develop to pass remaining legislation this calendar year.
