Why It Matters

The Department of Defense submitted $53.7 billion in priorities left out of the president's annual budget request, renewing a congressional debate over whether the reports provide useful information about military risk or undermine budget discipline.

A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report describes competing views of unfunded priorities lists (UPLs), with some lawmakers calling them "wish lists" and others describing them as "risk lists" that support strategic objectives. Division A of P.L. 119-75, the enacted fiscal 2026 appropriations measure, "was unable to fully fund most of these unfunded requirements and priorities," according to CRS.

The Big Picture

Statutory UPL requirements date to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2017, which established the core annual reporting requirement under 10 U.S.C. §222a for military service chiefs and combatant commanders. Subsequent NDAAs expanded coverage to include the chief of space operations, chief of the National Guard Bureau, and DOD comptroller.

Permanent law also requires UPL submissions from entities including the intelligence community, Coast Guard, and National Nuclear Security Administration. UPLs have typically lacked a standard format, ranging from narrative descriptions to spreadsheet line items. Most are unclassified, although some have distribution restrictions, and not all combatant commanders submit lists. In 2024, the heads of U.S. Transportation Command and U.S. Cyber Command did not submit fiscal 2025 UPLs.

A September 2025 Government Accountability Office report found DOD submitted approximately $134 billion in UPLs from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2025, with their combined inflation-adjusted value rising 73% over that period. GAO found that some DOD components inconsistently addressed statutory reporting requirements and used different methodologies to prioritize submissions. It made five recommendations to DOD.

Two proposals to repeal statutory UPL requirements, S. 5255, introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in the 117th Congress, and H.R. 4740, introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) in the 118th Congress, were referred to committee but not reported. In 2023, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he would support eliminating statutory UPL requirements. CRS does not characterize that position as current administration policy.

The Bottom Line

CRS identifies unresolved questions for Congress about inconsistent UPL methodologies, their rising value, their relationship to defense funding provided by the 2025 reconciliation law, and the effect of classified UPLs on congressional oversight. The report presents those issues as questions for lawmakers rather than conclusions about whether UPL requirements should continue.

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