Why It Matters

Despite passing the House in July, lawmakers in the Senate have not enacted the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets policy and authorizes appropriations for the majority of defense activities, leaving major defense policy and authorization decisions unresolved as the new fiscal year approaches.

The absence of an enacted NDAA creates uncertainty for defense policy and planning as lawmakers work to reconcile competing House and Senate approaches. Fiscal 2027 begins Oct. 1, although enactment after the start of a fiscal year is not unusual. Since fiscal 1977, defense authorization legislation has been enacted an average of 45 days after the fiscal year began.

The NDAA has been enacted for 65 consecutive fiscal years, making completion of the legislation a longstanding congressional practice. The authorization covers funding for the Department of Defense, atomic energy defense activities primarily at the Department of Energy and other national defense activities.

The Big Picture

The House passed H.R. 8800 on July 22 by a vote of 216-212. The House Armed Services Committee had voted 44-12 to order the bill reported on June 4, and the committee filed its report on June 15. In the Senate, cloture failed on the motion to proceed to S. 4784 on July 14 by a vote of 50-46, preventing the Senate from moving forward with consideration of the bill. The majority leader subsequently entered a motion to reconsider the failed cloture vote, but the Senate has taken no further procedural steps toward taking up the bill.

On May 26, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) and ranking member Adam Smith (D-WA) released draft legislative proposals for matters under the jurisdiction of the committee's seven subcommittees, along with a chair's mark covering other portions of the legislation. The Department of Defense is using a secondary Department of War designation under Executive Order 14347, dated Sept. 5, 2025. President Donald Trump submitted documentation supporting the fiscal 2027 budget request on April 3.

Broader Context

The Senate's difficulty advancing the NDAA stems largely from a broader fight over President Donald Trump's (R-FL) war with Iran. Senate Democrats unanimously opposed advancing S. 4784 on July 14, arguing that Congress should not move forward with the annual defense bill while the administration continued military operations against Iran without congressional authorization.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Democrats would not treat consideration of the NDAA as "business as usual" while Trump continued the conflict without congressional authorization and without providing Congress and the public sufficient information about its cost, mission or endgame. The Democratic opposition left the Senate short of the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed, which failed 50-46.

The vote did not kill the legislation. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) entered a motion to reconsider the failed cloture vote, allowing the Senate to potentially try again. As of September 1, however, the Senate had taken no additional procedural steps toward beginning floor consideration of S. 4784.

The NDAA debate has also drawn scrutiny over a provision that would deepen U.S.-Israel defense cooperation. Section 219 of the House-passed H.R. 8800 would establish a U.S.-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative and require the defense secretary to designate an executive agent to coordinate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation and industrial cooperation.

Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly sought to remove the provision. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) offered an amendment during the House Armed Services Committee markup to strike the initiative, but the committee rejected it by voice vote. Khanna later joined Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Democratic Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jesús "Chuy" García (D-IL), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Don Beyer (D-VA), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), Derek Tran (D-CA) and Joe Courtney (D-CT) in another amendment seeking to strike Section 219 before floor consideration.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has also called for the provision to be removed, arguing that it would give Israel a level of U.S. military integration exceeding that of NATO allies and saying Congress "must strip" the initiative from the NDAA.

The Bottom Line

The House has passed its version of the fiscal 2027 NDAA, but the Senate has yet to begin floor consideration after failing to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed. Although Congress has historically enacted defense authorization legislation after the start of the fiscal year, lawmakers will eventually need to resolve the House and Senate approaches if they are to continue a 65-year streak of enacting an annual defense authorization law.

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