NDAA Update Oct 30, 2026: Congress' 65-year defense bill streak could be in jeopardy

Congress' 65-year defense bill streak could be in jeopardy

The Hill · Oct 30, 2026

Ellen Mitchell reports that Congress' annual defense authorization bill is on shaky ground amid partisan infighting, threatening its unbroken 65-year streak of passage. The NDAA faces an uphill climb due to its historically high $1.15 trillion request, a figure that climbs to $1.5 trillion if the Trump administration gets its desired third reconciliation bill passed (also a tough climb). Democrats feel the topline must be cut by hundreds of billions of dollars and want guardrails around the ongoing war against Iran before voting yes, setting up a showdown with the administration, which is not letting up on its desired dollar figure or close to a peace deal with Tehran that satisfies Democrats. Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense budget expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the distance between a "nightmare scenario," in which the NDAA is not enacted, and a defense bill bundle that includes a third reconciliation bill is the widest gap she has ever seen: "The politics are absolutely dismal between the two branches right now." "Once red lines are crossed, it is difficult to go backward. I fear the necessary and bipartisan NDAA is fragile in this new era but hope I'm wrong." In June the House Armed Services Committee passed its version 44-12, with only half the panel's Democrats voting in favor (typically only one or two Democrats would oppose); in July the House passed it 216-212, with a handful of Democrats joining Republicans. In July senators failed to advance their version on a 50-46 procedural vote, short of 60. As of late October, House and Senate lawmakers are pursuing informal negotiations; a defense insider said congressional staff have finished their work on the bill and unresolved issues have moved to the staff director level, to then go to the "Big Four" (chair and ranking member of the House and Senate Armed Services committees) once lawmakers return after the November midterm elections, with a goal of completing the bill by Thanksgiving.