Tipsheet

U.S. Senate Pushes $900B Defense Bill to Trump's Desk

Scott McClallen
Scott McClallen  |  December 17, 2025 5:52 PM

The U.S. Senate has approved the 2026 fiscal defense bill that costs over $900 billion on a vote of 77-20. 

The National Defense Authorization Act is an annual bill that funds the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of Defense. 

The US House approved the measure last week, meaning this bill now moves to the desk of President Donald Trump. 

The spending bill aims to codify 15 executive orders issued by President Donald Trump, according to a 30-page summary. The bill is over 3,000 pages long.

The bill, if signed into law, will authorize about $900 billion in defense spending, including a 3.8 percent pay raise for service members for the next fiscal year. 

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, welcomed the bill's passage. 

"The FY26 IAA will enact many of these reforms, which will mean a more efficient intelligence community and a safer United States. This law also includes many other important provisions to ensure and enhance our nation’s security. These include prohibiting the intelligence community from contracting with Chinese military companies, improving the security of CIA installations, identifying the threat to America’s food security posed by Communist China, and directing necessary resources towards defending our nation from threats posed by Iran. I’m glad this bill passed both houses of Congress as part of the NDAA and I look forward to it being signed into law by the President,” Cotton said in a statement. 

Cotton said that the Intelligence Authorization Act will: 

  • Reform the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the broader Intelligence Community;
  • Prohibit the Intelligence Community from contracting with Chinese military companies engaged in biotechnology research, development, or manufacturing;
  • Improve the Intelligence Community’s artificial intelligence capabilities and establish guidance for the procurement and use of artificial intelligence;
  • Increase transparency to Congress regarding Iran’s enrichment activities, including decisions to weaponize uranium;
  • Improve the security of Central Intelligence Agency installations;
  • Expose the People’s Republic of China’s investments that are undermining America’s agricultural security.
  • Mandate an annual Intelligence Community survey of analytic objectivity among each element’s officers and employees, and ensure that analytic training includes instructions on avoiding political bias;
  • Mandate Intelligence Community notifications and reporting to ensure greater congressional oversight of the terrorist watchlist or the transnational organized crime watchlist;
  • Require the Director of National Intelligence to enhance efforts to counter narcotics trafficking with the Government of Mexico; and
  • Promote transparency by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a declassification review and publish intelligence relating to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.