National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
What does the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 do?
S 2296 is a Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Roger F. Wicker (R-MS). This is the Senate's own version of the annual defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2026 — the Armed Services Committee's original measure, reported by Senator Wicker with written report No. 119-39. It runs to ten divisions: Department of Defense authorizations, military construction, Department of Energy nuclear-security programs, the funding tables that give the authorizations their dollar amounts, an additional-provisions division, and five more divisions carrying an intelligence authorization, State Department matters, a State Department authorization act, a Coast Guard authorization act, and a full housing package. It is a different vehicle from the fiscal year 2026 defense authorization that became law: that was S. 1071, enacted as Public Law 119-60 on December 18, 2025.
Did S 2296 pass? Where it stands
As of August 27, 2026, S 2296 has passed the Senate.
Status: Passed Senate
Latest vote: Senate Bill Passed 77–20 on October 9, 2025
Outlook: Long shot
Key provisions
- Force Sizes and Defense Authorizations
- Active-duty end strengths: Army 454,000; Navy 344,600; Air Force 321,500
- Marine Corps 172,300 and Space Force 10,400 as of September 30, 2026
- Procurement and operations amounts set in the Division D funding tables
- Nuclear Weapons Production Schedule
- Plutonium pit targets slip a year: 20 in 2026, 30 in 2027
- 80-pit annual rate moves from 2030 to 2032, with 50 in 2029
- New NNSA plant projects at Sandia, Livermore, and Los Alamos
- Non-Defense Divisions Carried in the Bill
- Repeals the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019
- Development Finance Corporation liability ceiling raised to $200B
- Coast Guard operation and maintenance authorized at $11.85B for FY2026
Last updated August 27, 2026