Congress Piles NDAA Consideration Onto a Busy September

The consensus in D.C. is that FY26 appropriations negotiations before October 1^st are going to use up most of Congress’s bandwidth for the next four weeks. But additional must-pass legislation is looming, including expiring farm bill programs and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – which has passed every year since the early 1960s.  

The Senate’s bill authorizes nearly $925 billion for national defense, while the House version aligns with the White House’s $883 billion budget request. The House bill was marked up and reported out of the House Committee on Armed Services in mid-July, and the Senate’s version was (privately) marked up a week earlier.

The House Rules Committee recently posted an amendment table for H.R. 3838 – the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026. Generally, bipartisan amendments and amendments submitted by members of the majority party have the greatest chance of being included in the final bill. But committee context and outreach, including whether the amendment sponsor has spoken with the Chair, also play a huge role in whether they’ll be accepted or even considered.

So far, over 30 amendments have been filed (with hundreds more expected), and just under half of the filed amendments have been offered by either Republicans or a duo from both parties. The Republican amendments focus largely on energy production priorities, race and gender regulations in the military, and district-specific installation priorities. Expect many of these amendments to be ruled “in order” and approved.

Reps. Bilirakis (R-FL) and Bacon (R-NE) have partnered with Democrats like Mike Levin (D-CA), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) on amendments to improve benefits for servicemembers. While the decision to advance these amendments is at the discretion of Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), expect many to be at least brought up for a vote, given their likely tout-ability and popularity with military families and other constituents.  

The Senate will vote on its version of the 2026 defense policy bill on Sept. 2. Though an exact date for a House vote hasn’t been set, consideration of a bill by the Rules Committee typically means that a floor vote is imminent. Despite the heavy focus on appropriations before the new fiscal year begins, the scheduling of a Rules hearing means stakeholders should expect a House floor vote for NDAA by the second week of September.

Given the broad scope of the bill and its must-pass status, tracking and sifting through NDAA amendments is always a tall order. Last year, over 1,300 amendments were filed for the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025. Amendments are due by 5:00 pm on Thursday, August 26th. Be sure to keep a close eye on NDAA amendments to ensure you don’t miss any last-minute entries that could impact your sector.