What’s in the defense bill?

Congress approved $901 billion for the annual National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday. The 3,086-page defense funding bill, which included roughly $8 billion more than President Donald Trump requested, passed the Senate by a 77-20 vote. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah were the only Republicans to vote against it.

Despite disagreeing with some portions of the bill, Trump has said he will sign it. This year, the annual must-pass legislation delivered some rebukes to administration policy positions. Congress added a provision that requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to hand over unedited video footage of military strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. If he does not comply, the NDAA will put a hold on his travel budget.

Lawmakers said the bill will save taxpayers roughly $20 billion in 2026 by cutting funding for Biden-era priorities. They stripped all diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and activities from the bill, along with climate change programs, and they removed roughly $6.8 billion over “unnecessary Pentagon bureaucracy.”

• Executive orders: The fiscal year 2026 NDAA codifies 15 executive orders Trump has issued this year. It includes building a Golden Dome missile defense system, declaring a national emergency at the southern border, and protecting military academies’ women’s sports teams and programs from participation by men who say they are women.

• The border: The administration has prioritized using military force to shut down migration across the U.S. border. The NDAA reflects that policy with $1 billion earmarked for fighting drug trafficking and full funding for National Guard deployments and active-duty troops to the southwest border.

• Foreign aid: Although the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy calls for shifting resources away from Europe and toward South America, the NDAA pushes back on the priority adjustment. The bill commits $400 million annually for Ukraine security assistance in 2026 and 2027. It also slow-rolls reducing U.S. forces in Europe, requiring detailed reports from the Pentagon before doing so. Earlier this year, the Pentagon proposed eliminating the Baltic Security Initiative, which funds programs to boost cooperation between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. But the NDAA authorizes $175 million for the program.

• Women in military: Earlier this year, Hegseth removed several civilian teams of service women, calling them an example of DEI. But the new NDAA requires service secretaries to establish a women’s initiative team to advocate for women in the military at five services within the Department of Defense within a year of the bill’s passage. Typically, the teams research issues that hinder women from serving in the military, help with recruitment, and recommend policy changes.

• Pay raises: The bill includes a 3.8% pay raise for all military service members. It also expands bonuses and requires a new study to improve the calculation used for the Basic Allowance for Housing for military members’ rental payments.

• Air travel: One provision in the bill attempts to prevent plane crashes at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the primary airport for Washington, D.C. Although a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers attempted to heavily restrict military aircraft from flying around the airport, the requirement only asks that military training aircraft signal their location to air traffic controllers. But the Defense Department can waive that requirement for national security reasons at any time. In light of the deadly crash between a training helicopter and an American Airlines jet in January, some lawmakers said the NDAA’s provisions were not enough. National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told senators the bill rolls back safety standards added after the January crash. After working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in an unsuccessful attempt to amend the funding bill, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, fast-tracked a standalone piece of legislation to tighten requirements for military aircraft. The Senate unanimously passed Cruz’s bill on Wednesday afternoon, and it will now head to the House for a vote.

Some priorities did not make it into the final NDAA version. The House removed a provision that would have required TRICARE, the military’s healthcare system, to cover fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization for all active-duty service members. Under the current system, TRICARE only covers fertility services if military members prove their active duty service caused their infertility. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said that he supports IVF but that it is not something that Congress should legislate.

After the Senate voted on the NDAA, Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., released a standalone bill to add IVF and egg freezing to TRICARE’s responsibility. Republican Reps. Nick LaLota of New York and Jen Kiggans of Virginia, along with Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, have co-sponsored it.