WASHINGTON (TNND) — On the ninth day of the government shutdown, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which intends to allocate $924.7 billion in funding for the military in fiscal year 2026.
The Senate’s passage of the Pentagon’s 2026 fiscal budget by a vote of 77-20 comes after the bill spent the past month in limbo. There were more than a dozen amendments in the bill that needed to be voted on individually, causing many of the senators to halt the votes due to their disagreement with the measures.
However, on Thursday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) was able to wrangle the Senate together in agreement on 17 stand-alone amendments as well as a package of 50 minor amendments.
“We simply cannot delay this process any longer,” Wicker said on the Senate floor. “Let me make it clear: If we do not bring this to the floor today, this matter will not have time for deliberation on the Senate floor, and we’ll have to basically pretend that we’re having a conference between House and Senate members, and a very small group of senators will have to write this bill and bring it to the floor for final passage. That’s not the way this ought to be done.”
The House passed its own version of the NDAA last month with a slighly smaller fiscal budget at $839 billion. Now that the Senate has passed its version, both chambers Armed Services Committees will come together and negotiate a final version , with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), House Armed Services Chair, suggesting that a compromised deal could be ready by Thanksgiving.
Top Democrat of the Senate Armed Services Committee Jack Reed (D-RI) said the NDAA “delivers key wins for service members and their family.”
“The bill authorizes important investments in key technologies like artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, and hypersonics, and makes real progress toward modernizing our ships, aircraft, and combat vehicles.”
The Senate’s version of NDAA includes a 3.8% pay raise for military members. However, military service members are on track to miss their first paycheck, scheduled for October 15, since the shutdown started.
Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Democratic-run cities and military attacks against drug cartels were central concerns raised by Democrats over Trump’s powers. However, the Senate was able to secure a bipartisan victory in scaling back the president’s authority over the military by voting to repeal the Iraq and Persian Gulf war-era authorizations for the use of military force. Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) said these authorization acts have been used by presidents for nearly two decades in perpetuating what they call “forever wars.”
“The gulf war started 34 years ago, and the Iraq War began 22 years ago. These conflicts have long ended, and today Iraq is a partner, not an adversary,” Senator Todd Young, Republican of Indiana, said in a statement. “It’s time for our law to reflect that reality. Tonight’s Senate vote is a step in the right direction.”
