OPINION COLUMN — “The one Big Beautiful [Reconciliation] Bill currently making its way through Congress, in combination with [fiscal 2025] base appropriations…is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revolutionize our nation’s defense capabilities and protect our American sovereignty, providing the first ever $1 trillion defense budget and the single largest investment in border security in our nation’s history.”
That was Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, testifying last Wednesday before the House Appropriations Committee.
Much to my surprise, Vought was disclosing that President Trump’s controversial Big Beautiful Bill – known primarily for extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and reducing Medicaid spending – also contains authorization and appropriation for an additional $150 billion for fiscal 2025 defense spending, thus putting the current year’s defense number above $1 trillion.
In a May 2, letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Vought had said, “For Defense spending, the President proposes an increase of 13 percent to $1.01 trillion for FY 2026.” At that time, it appeared the $1 trillion for defense was still a year away.
However, without much publicity, in late April, Senate and House Armed Services Committee Republican members agreed to add the $150 billion for defense to the FY 2025 reconciliation bill in what Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called a “generational upgrade” in military capability.
At that time, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) called the move a “partisan budget reconciliation gimmick,” and said the $150 billion package should be considered through the normal authorization and appropriations hearings and markup process as part of the FY 2026 budget.
Nonetheless, the added $150 billion was approved as part of the 1,100-page reconciliation measure that passed the House on May 22 in a 215-to-214 vote. During debate on the legislation, the defense money was hardly mentioned since the House Rules Committee had ruled out any floor amendments that dealt with defense.
Then, last Tuesday, Senator Wicker released the Senate version of the $150 billion defense package saying it was developed with the White House, the Department of Defense and the House Armed Services Committee. The Senate’s version of the legislative language runs 40 pages and has includes some substantive differences from the House-passed version of the bill that will have to be worked out after Senate passage. There are some unusual elements of the package which recognize the odd way that the funds are being made available.
Sign up for The Cipher Brief’s Nightcap newsletter: the best way to unwind every day while still staying up to speed on national security.Sign up today.
One provision calls for the Defense Secretary and the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) to deliver to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees within 60 days of the bill passing Congress, “a plan detailing how the funds appropriated to the Department of Defense and the National Nuclear Security Administration under the Act will be spent over the four-year period ending with fiscal year 2029.”
As for the $150 billion, the legislation states that money will come “in addition to amounts otherwise available, there are appropriated to the Secretary of Defense for fiscal year 2025, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to remain available until September 30, 2029.”
That means, as I read it, that Congress is allocating additional funds to the Secretary of Defense for Fiscal Year 2025, specifically from the general funds of the U.S. Treasury that have not been previously designated for other expenditures in the four years to come.
The Defense Department Inspector General is given $10 million, “out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated…to monitor Department of Defense activities for which funding is appropriated in this title.”
The largest chunk of the Senate defense package is some $29 billion for 36 separate items under the category “Enhancement of Department of Defense Resources for Shipbuilding.”
Two of the biggest items are for ships, $4.6 billion for a second Virginia-class attack submarine in FY 2026 and $5.4 billion for two additional Guided Missile Destroyers.
There are specified items related to the shipbuilding process such as $492 million for next-generation ship-building techniques; $450 million for U.S. manufacturing for wire production and machining capacity for the shipbuilding industrial base; $450 million for application of autonomy and artificial intelligence to naval shipbuilding; and $500 million for additional dry-dock capability.
Looking toward the future, there is also $1.5 billion for expansion of small, unmanned surface vessel production; $2.1 billion for development, procurement, and integration of purpose-built medium unmanned surface vessels; and $1.3 billion for expansion of unmanned underwater vehicle production.
I should point out that the House shipbuilding package was $34 billion, larger than the Senate version in part because it included $4.8 billion for a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock and an America-class amphibious assault ship. The Senate did not include those two ships.
Sign up for the Cyber Initiatives Group Sunday Cyber/Tech Roundup for a weekly wrap on the most important stories in cyber and tech.
Money to initiate work on Trump’s Golden Dome missile and air defense program totals $25 billion as the President had proposed, but the 14 items listed for funding in the Senate package give an indication of what will be involved in the project.
The largest amount, $7.2 billion, is for the development, procurement, and integration of military space-based sensors, to detect and track missiles, including those launched from space. There are already some space-based sensor systems, but more are needed to get a unified, worldwide operational picture of potential threats.
Another $5.6 billion of the Golden Dome Senate package is for “development of space-based and boost-phase intercept capabilities,” perhaps the most difficult and controversial proposal in the package.
One problem for such a system is that during the boost and ascent phases, it’s often unclear what kind of launch has occurred — a launch to put a satellite into space; a launched ballistic missile; a launched hypersonic weapon, or even a fractional orbital bombardment system.
Then there is the policy issue which involves the act of putting a weapon – nuclear or non-nuclear — into space. Up to now, U.S. officials have shied away from publicly calling for such things, fearing the start of an on-orbit arms race. But the U.S. says it has intelligence indicating that Russia has considered putting a nuclear weapon in a satellite, which if exploded – could destroy hundreds of other satellites.
In addition, China has tested satellites that can physically seize another satellite or interfere with its operations.
Another $2.4 billion in the Golden Dome package is for the development and deployment of “military non-kinetic missile defense effects,” which could involve electronic warfare and cyber capabilities; $2.2 billion for acceleration of hypersonic defense systems; and $2 billion for satellites that from space, can see air moving targets, such as drones and missiles.
Another item related to space, that needs more explanation is the $5.1 billion in the package for Indo-Pacific Command. It is described as being designated for “classified military space superiority programs.” It’s worth pointing out the Senate figure — over $1 billion more than in the House bill.
Also included in the package is $15 billion to accelerate nuclear weapon modernization programs, including $4.5 billion for expansion of production capacity of the new B–21 long-range strategic bomber; $2.5 billion for the new, troubled Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program and another $2 billion to accelerate the development of the controversial nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile.
In another area, the package includes $3 billion to support the Defense Department’s role in border security, including deployment of military personnel to both U.S. southern and northern borders, and even use of DoD installations for the temporary detention of migrants.
The $150 billion package, attached to the reconciliation bill, represents a new way to pass funding increases and avoid regular order. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), ranking Democrat on Senate Armed Services, called it “a slush fund.”
Let’s see what makes it through the Senate.
Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of The Cipher Brief.
The Cipher Brief is committed to publishing a range of perspectives on national security issues submitted by deeply experienced national security professionals.
Have a perspective to share based on your experience in the national security field? Send it to Editor@thecipherbrief.com for publication consideration.
Read more expert-driven national security insights, perspective and analysis in The Cipher Brief
