NDAA Update Oct 26, 2026: Is the NDAA actually in trouble?

Is the NDAA actually in trouble?

Punchbowl News · Oct 26, 2026

Briana Reilly, Anthony Adragna, Em Luetkemeyer and Jake Sherman report that the must-pass Pentagon policy bill has been signed into law for 65 consecutive years, but some lawmakers worry that 2026 could end the streak. Democrats say the overall defense spending request must be cut by hundreds of billions of dollars and the bill must include guardrails on President Donald Trump's Iran war, while the Pentagon is doubling down on its $1.5 trillion budget request. Defense watchers still believe the NDAA will pass and want to keep the bill as narrow as possible; House Armed Services vice chair Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said in mid-October, "We can't add things in that aren't in the House version that's passed." Democrats are loath to authorize and provide record funding for a Pentagon run by Pete Hegseth, who faces a House impeachment vote when Congress returns in mid-November; that vote could act as a temporary pressure-relief valve. Lawmakers are wary of a Trump veto given override timing constraints, pressure for concessions grows if Democrats win big Nov. 3, and lawmakers are reluctant to test Trump on issues such as restoring former Confederate names to military bases (Trump vetoed the FY2021 NDAA in part over that). Corporate America is waging all-out war against a Senate provision that would bar Pentagon contracts with companies that conduct stock buybacks or pay dividends, and the defense industry is fighting language in both chambers' bills that would give troops wider latitude to fix their own equipment. Speaker Mike Johnson told Punchbowl: "It's very important." "We have to come together and get it done."