Government
Senate Defense Policy Bill Includes $38.5B for Military Construction
$925-billion defense spending legislation passed by a 77-20 vote on Oct. 9
Senate bill includes $1.6B in military construction authorizations at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.
The U.S. Senate passed a $925-billion annual defense policy bill by a 77-20 vote Oct. 9 that includes $38.5 billion for military construction—more than double the amount included in the House version of the bill or requested by the White House.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 includes $8.5 billion for Army construction, $14.5 billion for Navy and Marine Corps construction, $7.9 billion for Air Force construction and $2.7 billion for other U.S. Defense Dept.-wide projects, in addition to construction funding for various National Guard, Reserve and other facilities. Additionally, the bill includes another $40.7 billion for military family housing construction.
The defense authorization bill "builds on the historic security investments we secured" in the federal tax and spending bill Congress passed in early July, Senate Republican Leader John Thune (S.D.) said in a statement.
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The House version only includes $18.9 billion for military construction out of a total $893 billion in authorizations, with the Trump administration requesting just $16.6 billion for military construction. The disparity between the two versions of the bill means that lawmakers will need to negotiate its final form before it can become law.
Ahead of the Senate bill’s passage, the White House expressed “significant” concerns with it in a statement of administration policy, including over the realignment of funding from administration priority projects to others.
Projects and Assessments
Similar to the House bill, some facilities set to receive the most construction funding include Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, at $1.6 billion, and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, at $1 billion. The funding would go toward projects including MQ-25 aircraft laydown facilities and dry dock modernization in Norfolk, and a drydock extension and power reliability and water resilience upgrades in Portsmouth.
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“As our country faces some of its greatest challenges, the bill makes important investments ... that are critical to the safety and security of our country,” Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said in a statement.
The Senate version also includes more than $2.6 billion for various projects in Joint Region Marianas in the Pacific, including a submarine maintenance facility and a missile integration test facility.
One bill provision would amend contractor performance information requirements under the Defense Dept.’s Federal Acquisition Regulation supplement. The updated system is focused on measurable and verifiable negative performance events to reduce subjectivity and inconsistency in evaluations, according to lawmakers.
The updated supplement would also reduce administrative burden on contracting officers by limiting reporting to prior contractor failures or poor performance, and ensuring the government can identify and avoid contractors with a history of poor performance.
Contractors will have access to their scores under the performance assessment reporting system, including the underlying data on number of events, transactions and dollar volume.
