Of the approximately $1.15 trillion that the second Trump Administration requested for FY2027 discretionary activities within the national defense budget function, $1.14 trillion fell within the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and the scope of proposals for a National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (NDAA; H.R. 8800, S. 4784). These figures exclude $350 billion in mandatory defense funding that the President's budget request assumed would be enacted in a separate reconciliation act. Although the NDAA itself does not provide funding (i.e., budget authority), historically the legislation has served as an indicator of congressional views on funding for discretionary activities.

During consideration of an FY2027 NDAA, some Members of Congress proposed authorizing levels of funding that differed from levels the President requested for certain Department of Defense (DOD) programs, projects, and activities. (DOD is "using a secondary Department of War designation," under Executive Order 14347 dated September 5, 2025.) Both the House Armed Services Committee (HASC)- and Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)-reported versions of an FY2027 NDAA (H.R. 8800 and S. 4784, respectively) would authorize the overall level of discretionary funding the President requested for FY2027, or approximately $250 billion (28%) more than amounts authorized for FY2026.

Table 1 summarizes discretionary funding authorizations in proposed versions of an FY2027 NDAA for the national defense budget (i.e., budget function 050), which comprises funding for DOD (subfunction 051), including certain other categories of funding; atomic energy defense programs (subfunction 053); and certain other defense-related activities (subfunction 054).

H.R. 8800

H.R. 8800, as reported, would authorize $1.14 trillion, the amount requested by the Administration, according to the accompanying HASC committee report, H.Rept. 119-698.

During the HASC markup of the bill on June 4, some Members raised concerns about the Administration's assumption in its budget request that Congress would provide additional funding for defense using reconciliation. In a letter included in the SASC committee report, Representative John Garamendi stated that the bill "authorizes a $1.15 trillion defense topline while Congress also plans to advance another $350 billion in defense spending through reconciliation, with far too little specificity, accountability, or meaningful oversight." Separately, Representative Seth Moulton offered an amendment to reduce the total amount to be authorized by the committee by $150.0 billion. In response to the proposal, HASC Chair Representative Mike D. Rogers stated that "fully funding the FY2027 [P]resident's budget is absolutely critical given the unprecedented global threat and environment we face" and that the proposed amendment would "gut funding we've included in this bill to modernize our fleets of ships, aircraft and ground combat systems." The committee did not adopt the amendment.

H.R. 8800 would authorize $1.2 billion and $0.7 billion more than the President requested for (1) procurement, and (2) research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) activities, respectively, and less funding than requested for operations and maintenance (O&M), military personnel (MILPERS), and for other funding types.

To date, the Trump Administration has not released a statement of administration policy on H.R. 8800.

S. 4784

S. 4784, as reported, would authorize $1.14 trillion, the amount requested by the Administration, according to the accompanying SASC report, S.Rept. 119-127.

SASC Chair Senator Roger Wicker supported the committee action on the NDAA, stating in a press release that the proposed bill "significantly raises our investment in American security." In the committee report, SASC Ranking Member Senator Tim Kaine filed an additional views letter stating that "This is a staggering increase of funding for Defense, particularly when counterposed with the sizable cuts being made to Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, and other programs relied upon by everyday Americans—and the fact that Social Security's trust fund is expected to be depleted by the end of 2032." During SASC markup of the bill, the committee considered an amendment to "provide for a reduction in authorized national defense funding." The committee did not adopt the amendment.

S. 4784 would authorize $0.4 billion less than the President requested for DOD procurement accounts and $1.1 billion more than requested for RDT&E accounts, among other changes.

To date, the Trump Administration has not released a statement of administration policy on S. 4784.