Why it Matters
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense will convene a Navy and Marine Corps budget hearing on May 12, 2026 to scrutinize the Department of the Navy's fiscal year 2027 budget request, a spending plan released just three weeks earlier, on April 21. Lawmakers must decide how to fund a fleet that is shrinking, a shipbuilding industrial base that is falling behind, and aviation programs that Congress itself gutted in the prior year. The decisions made in this hearing will shape the Navy's ability to compete in the Pacific for years to come.
The Fleet Is in Trouble
The backdrop for this defense spending hearing is a growing readiness crisis. According to reporting from 19FortyFive, 82 percent of Navy construction projects are running behind schedule, and the fleet has been shrinking even as the defense budget has grown substantially over the past two decades. Ships are retiring faster than new ones are being built, construction timelines are lengthening, and maintenance backlogs are growing.
A Congressional Budget Office analysis of Navy shipbuilding noted that Congress has historically appropriated more funds for naval shipbuilding than administrations have requested, setting up a recurring tension between executive branch budget proposals and congressional priorities. That tension is likely to resurface on May 12.
The prior fiscal year made things worse. The Navy proposed a $16 billion cut to shipbuilding in fiscal year 2026 and did not plan to purchase at least six new warships, a decision that alarmed senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time. With that controversy still fresh, members of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee will likely press Navy leadership hard on whether the fiscal year 2027 request corrects course.
Adding to the uncertainty, former Navy Secretary John Phelan indicated last year that the service was preparing for additional DOGE-related cuts, particularly in IT and consulting. The downstream effects of those efficiency mandates on the Navy's fiscal year 2027 request remain unclear.
The F/A-XX Gap
One of the sharpest points of contention heading into this congressional budget hearing is the Navy's sixth-generation fighter program. According to 19FortyFive, Congress cut the Navy's F/A-XX program by 84 percent in fiscal year 2026, reducing funding to just $74 million, while the Air Force's comparable F-47 program received $5 billion. That asymmetry raises direct questions about the Navy's long-term air superiority posture, questions that subcommittee members are likely to put to Navy leadership.
What the Fiscal Year 2027 Request Includes
The Department of the Navy's fiscal year 2027 budget request, released April 21, provides the formal basis for the hearing. As of that date, the Navy reported 291 battle force ships with 92 underway and 174,000 active Marines with 44,000 deployed.
On the Marine Corps side, the request includes $6.3 billion for ground procurement, supporting investments that include 32 Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System launchers and 103 Naval Strike Missiles, according to GlobalSecurity.org. Stars and Stripes reported the request also includes new amphibious landing ships and vertical takeoff and landing jets, along with $6.5 billion for fleet readiness covering field logistics, maritime prepositioning, and depot maintenance.
A separate strategic question looms over the hearing. As of January 2026, the Navy had still not released details on its "Golden Fleet" force-level goal, specifically the strategic target for overall fleet size, according to a Congressional Research Service report. Members are expected to press for clarity on that long-term planning gap.
Industry Is Watching the Navy and Marine Corps Budget Hearing Closely
Defense contractors have mobilized substantial lobbying resources ahead of this military budget preview. General Dynamics reported $3.36 million in lobbying expenditures in the first quarter of 2026 alone, covering shipbuilding, submarines, Navy ship repair, aircraft, and communications systems. BAE Systems reported $1.41 million in the same period, focused on Navy and Marine Corps R&D, aircraft procurement, electronic warfare, and counter-drone systems.
Huntington Ingalls Industries, the nation's largest military shipbuilder, reported $1.14 million in lobbying in the fourth quarter of 2025, centered on the Carrier Replacement Program and AUKUS-related legislation. Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace, which supplies the Naval Strike Missiles featured in the Marine Corps request, reported $350,000 in first quarter 2026 lobbying on missiles, missile defense, and counter-UAS systems.
Smaller but targeted efforts include BlueForge Alliance, which reported $80,000 in first quarter 2026 lobbying focused specifically on submarine industrial base improvement, and WHEMCO Inc., which reported $30,000 on Navy shipbuilding and the Columbia-class submarine program. Virtualitics Inc. reported $100,000 in first quarter 2026 lobbying on AI applications for military readiness tied to the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act.
Who Is Running the Hearing
The subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), with Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) serving as Ranking Member and Rep. Jake Ellzey Sr. as Vice Chair. The hearing is scheduled for May 12, 2026 at H-140 Capitol.
Access the Legis1 platform for comprehensive political news, data, and insights.