Weekly Column: Providing For Our National Defense

Since 1961, Congress has passed an annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that establishes or continues defense programs, policies and projects. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 NDAA includes a number of provisions beneficial to Idaho and America in our efforts to protect our country and its allies.

It provides our servicemembers a well-deserved pay raise and strengthens operational readiness to defend against foreign adversaries at home and abroad. The law also secures funding for important projects at the Idaho National Laboratory, which will have lasting, positive impacts on the local community, the economy and our national security.

I worked with fellow U.S. Senator for Idaho Jim Risch to secure several provisions in the FY 2026 NDAA important for Idaho, including measures that will:

• Enhance U.S. nuclear energy leadership globally and combat China and Russia’s growing influence on international nuclear energy development;
• Crack down on the import of deadly fentanyl and its precursors flowing from China to Mexico and across our borders;
• Support the Idaho National Laboratory for tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel development; and
• Strengthen the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ (CFIUS) ability to review foreign land purchases near sensitive military, intelligence and national laboratory sites.

The FY 2026 NDAA also:

• Provides a 3.8 percent pay raise for servicemembers;
• Supports the development of the Golden Dome missile defense system;
• Authorizes investments to boost our naval fleet;
• Removes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) provisions;
• Prohibits men from playing in women’s sports at military service academies;
• Repeals or amends burdensome and outdated provisions to streamline Pentagon innovation;
• Restores munitions and readiness for all military services; and
• Expands and improves military recruitment.

At the Republican National Convention nearly 46 years ago, President Ronald Reagan reflected on the importance of providing for a strong U.S. military when he said, “We know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when they are weak. It is then that tyrants are tempted.”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the final FY 2026 NDAA by a vote of 312-112. Then, the U.S. Senate passed the bill by a vote of 77-20 before sending it to President Trump to be signed into law. The FY 2026 NDAA will continue to provide our military with the resources necessary to face down global threats.

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