The House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026, giving the military a record $900.6 billion—more than the $892.6 billion base defense budget that the Trump administration's Department of War had asked for. The Senate is expected to pass the bill next week, sending it to President Donald Trump's desk.
The American public, of course, isn't clamoring for more military spending. A poll conducted by the nonprofit Institute for Global Affairs in October 2025 found that 40 percent of Americans wanted to decrease the military budget, 50 percent wanted to keep it the same, and only 10 percent wanted to increase it. And the military itself isn't even calling for this much more money, either. Congress' budget pushes funding for programs that the brass wants to get rid of.
