US House approves $832 billion defense budget for 2026

The US House of Representatives has approved legislation allocating approximately $832 billion in funding for defense programs for the 2026 fiscal year.

The Republican-majority House of Representatives approved the bill by a vote of 221 to 209, largely along party lines. Five Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while three Republicans opposed it.

This measure was the second budget bill Republicans have passed for 2026. Members of the Republican budget committee had stated that efforts to pass the massive bill, which includes Trump’s tax and spending cuts, have been the party’s focus for the past few months.

The bill, passed on Thursday, will increase the appropriation for active, reserve, and National Guard military personnel to a total of $189 billion, which is $6.6 billion above the current level. The budget also allows for a 3.8% increase in the basic salaries of military personnel starting in January.

The bill provides $174 billion for procurement, an increase of $6.5 billion from the current level, and $283 billion for operations and maintenance, a figure approximately $7 billion below 2025 levels.

The bill also includes approximately $148 billion for research, development, test, and evaluation, as well as increases for the Pentagon’s health programs and overseas humanitarian, disaster, and civic aid programs.

The bill’s passage follows Republican approval earlier this month of a plan for additional defense spending, part of what Trump has called a “great, wonderful law.” This plan provided for $25 billion to fund Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system and billions more for items such as shipbuilding, the maritime industrial base, munitions, and nuclear deterrence.

Democrats strongly opposed the overall defense budget plan, which aims to codify actions targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, ban funding for abortion-related travel, and block funds for gender-affirming surgeries.

However, the party managed to secure some amendments during deliberations in the House Budget Committee regarding recent controversies at the Department of Defense under the Trump administration. One measure aimed to prevent the deployment of armed forces for law enforcement purposes, while another amendment, adopted later, sought to prohibit the transfer of classified information over unsecured networks.