For Immediate Release:
May 26, 2026

Contact:
media@taxpayer.net

Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) released the initial text, or chairman’s mark, of the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Pentagon’s annual authorization bill. In line with the president’s $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget request, this bill would authorize roughly $1.15 trillion for the Pentagon, while resting hopes for the remaining $350 billion on enacting a third budget reconciliation bill this Congress. In response to committee leadership’s acquiescence to the Pentagon’s excessive request, Taxpayers for Common Sense President Steve Ellis issued the following statement:

“The Pentagon is seeking an absurd $1.5 trillion budget, a 45 percent increase in a single year, on the heels of an 18 percent boost this year. Rather than challenging this runaway spending, this draft bill matches that request by authorizing $1.15 trillion in advance of another $350 billion they hope to obtain in budget reconciliation.

“The nation can’t afford this bloat. We’re up to our neck in debt, with interest payments now surpassing a trillion dollars a year and interest rates rising. Meanwhile, the Pentagon, which still can’t pass an audit, wants to spend taxpayer dollars on a gilded battleship that cuts against its own vision for a more agile and distributed naval force.

“Taxpayers need lawmakers to fight for a responsible budget that sets future generations up for success rather than burying them under a growing mountain of debt. The first step in that fight is in the Armed Services Committees, where lawmakers can push for a lower topline and vote against the bill if efforts to challenge this reckless spending fall short.”

Background:

Last week, Taxpayers for Common Sense, National Taxpayers Union, and Taxpayers Protection Alliance sent a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees urging support for efforts to lower the Pentagon’s topline and opposition to advancing the NDAA out of committee should efforts to lower the topline fall short.

The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to mark up the NDAA on June 4, while the Senate Armed Services Committee markup is slated for the following week.

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Taxpayers for Common Sense is a nonpartisan budget watchdog committed to eliminating wasteful spending and promoting fiscal transparency and accountability.