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House passes record $1.15 trillion defense bill with US-Israel military plan

House passes record $1.15 trillion defense bill with US-Israel military plan

Rule Changes

The FY2027 defense authorization clears the House by four votes and heads to a stalled Senate

July 23rd, 2026: House passes the $1.15 trillion NDAA

Overview

Updated Jul 23

A U.S. service member's paycheck is about to grow by 5% to 7%. That raise rides inside a $1.15 trillion defense bill the House passed by four votes, the largest military authorization Congress has ever written.

The bill still needs the Senate, where Democrats have frozen their own version over President Trump's war with Iran. Tucked inside is a plan to fuse parts of the U.S. and Israeli militaries, plus a voter-citizenship measure with nothing to do with defense.

Why it matters

It sets how $1.15 trillion in military money is spent, raises troop pay, and could tie U.S. and Israeli defense programs together for years.

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Key Indicators

$1.15T
Total defense authorization
The largest annual military authorization Congress has written.
+$250B
Increase over prior year
About a quarter-trillion dollars more than the FY2026 total.
216-212
House passage vote
A near party-line margin of four votes.
$750M
US-Israel joint projects
Funding tied to the new defense technology initiative in Section 219.
5-7%
Service member pay raise
Authorized increase in military pay for FY2027.

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People Involved

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers
Chairman, House Armed Services Committee
Steering the bill toward a House-Senate conference
 Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
Opposed the final bill with most Democrats
 Thomas Massie
Thomas Massie
U.S. Representative (R-Ky.)
One of seven Republicans who voted no
 Ro Khanna
Ro Khanna
U.S. Representative (D-Calif.)
Vowing to remove Section 219 in conference

Organizations Involved

House Armed Services Committee
House Armed Services Committee
Congressional Committee
Authored the House version of the FY2027 NDAA

The House panel that writes the annual defense policy bill and sets Pentagon spending authorities.
Senate Armed Services Committee
Senate Armed Services Committee
Congressional Committee
Its bill is stalled on the Senate floor

The Senate panel that writes the chamber's version of the yearly defense authorization.

Timeline

February 2026 July 2026

5 events Latest: July 23rd, 2026 · 2 months ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. House passes the $1.15 trillion NDAA

    Latest Legislation

    The House approves the record defense bill, 216-212, largely along party lines. It now goes to the Senate.

  2. House sets the rules and bundles in the SAVE Act

    Legislation

    The House adopts a rule merging voter-citizenship rules into the NDAA and blocks the Section 219 strip amendment.

  3. U.S. strikes Iranian nuclear sites

    Conflict

    The U.S. hits three nuclear facilities in Iran; Trump says hostilities pause on June 24.

  4. Senate committee advances its defense bill

    Legislation

    The Senate Armed Services Committee approves a $1.14 trillion FY2027 NDAA in June.

  5. U.S. and Israel open war with Iran

    Conflict

    Operation Epic Fury begins with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites.

Scenarios

1

Defense bill becomes law with US-Israel integration intact

Likely Resolves by Jan 31, 2027

Discussed by: Defense Daily, Breaking Defense

The Senate passes a version, conferees reconcile the two bills, and Trump signs. Republicans hold both chambers, and an NDAA has become law for 64 straight years, so enactment is the base case. Section 219 survives if House GOP leaders hold the line in conference.

2

Section 219 US-Israel integration stripped in conference

Possible Resolves by Jan 31, 2027

Discussed by: Rep. Ro Khanna, Responsible Statecraft, The Intercept

Khanna and Massie's bloc, joined by Senate objections, forces the integration section out during the House-Senate conference. The bill still becomes law, but without the plan to fuse U.S. and Israeli defense-technology work.

3

SAVE Act voter rules survive in the final defense bill

Unlikely Resolves by Jan 31, 2027

Discussed by: Campaign Legal Center, Bipartisan Policy Center

The proof-of-citizenship voter registration rules, attached to the NDAA in the House, stay in the enacted bill. The Senate needs 60 votes to advance the package, which makes survival of an unrelated election rider a steep climb.

4

Streak breaks: no FY2027 defense bill enacted

Unlikely Resolves by Q1 2027

Discussed by: Breaking Defense

Senate Democrats sustain their block over the Iran war and the election rider, and Congress fails to enact any FY2027 NDAA on its normal schedule. That would end a run of 64 consecutive years in which the bill became law.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

November 1981

US-Israel Strategic Cooperation Memorandum (1981)

The Reagan administration signed a formal framework to deepen U.S.-Israeli military coordination. Washington suspended it within weeks after Israel annexed the Golan Heights, then revived it later.

Then

It set up joint planning and military exercises between the two countries.

Now

It grew into decades of close defense ties, joint missile-defense programs, and large annual U.S. aid.

Why this matters now

Section 219 would push that relationship further, toward shared defense-technology development and industry.

November 1993

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" codified in the FY1994 NDAA (1993)

Congress wrote the policy barring openly gay troops from serving into the FY1994 defense authorization. A contested social policy rode the must-pass defense bill into law.

Then

The policy governed the U.S. military for the next 17 years.

Now

Congress repealed it in 2010, but the episode set a pattern of bolting charged, unrelated policy onto the NDAA.

Why this matters now

The SAVE Act voter rules and Section 219 use the same tactic: attach a fight to a bill Congress rarely blocks.

January 2021

FY2021 NDAA veto override (2021)

President Trump vetoed the FY2021 defense bill over unrelated demands in late 2020. On January 1, 2021, Congress overrode him, the only veto override of his first term. The $740 billion bill became law.

Then

The defense authorization took effect despite the president's veto.

Now

It confirmed the NDAA as veto-proof, must-pass legislation that clears even during bitter partisan fights.

Why this matters now

It shows why the FY2027 bill will probably become law, even with most Democrats opposed over the Iran war.

Sources

(8)
+2
The Hill Al Jazeera The Defense Post Breaking Defense Antiwar.com Responsible Statecraft Wikipedia The Hill