S. 2572

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026

Sponsor: Mitch McConnell · 0 cosponsors

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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026

This bill provides FY2026 appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for military activities.

(The bill excludes military construction, military family housing, civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, and nuclear warheads, which are all included in other appropriations bills.)

Within the DOD budget, the bill provides appropriations for

  • Military Personnel;
  • Operation and Maintenance;
  • Procurement;
  • Research, Development, Test and Evaluation; and
  • Revolving and Management Funds.

The bill provides appropriations for Other Department of Defense Programs, including

  • the Defense Health Program,
  • Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction,
  • Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, and
  • the Office of the Inspector General.

In addition, the bill provides appropriations for Related Agencies, including (1) the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund, and (2) the Intelligence Community Management Account.

The bill also sets forth requirements and restrictions for using funds provided by this and other appropriations acts.

Text of the bill

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I MILITARY PERSONNEL

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Sec. 8063.

(a) None of the funds appropriated in this or any other Act may be used to take any action to modify—

(1) the appropriations account structure for the National Intelligence Program budget, including through the creation of a new appropriation or new appropriation account;

(2) how the National Intelligence Program budget request is presented in the unclassified P–1, R–1, and O–1 documents supporting the Department of Defense budget request;

(3) the process by which the National Intelligence Program appropriations are apportioned to the executing agencies; or

(4) the process by which the National Intelligence Program appropriations are allotted, obligated and disbursed.

(b) Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed to prohibit the merger of programs or changes to the National Intelligence Program budget at or below the Expenditure Center level, provided such change is otherwise in accordance with paragraphs (1)–(3) of subsection (a).

(c) The Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense may jointly, only for the purposes of achieving auditable financial statements and improving fiscal reporting, study and develop detailed proposals for alternative financial management processes. Such study shall include a comprehensive counterintelligence risk assessment to ensure that none of the alternative processes will adversely affect counterintelligence.

(d) Upon development of the detailed proposals defined under subsection (c), the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense shall—

(1) provide the proposed alternatives to all affected agencies;

(2) receive certification from all affected agencies attesting that the proposed alternatives will help achieve auditability, improve fiscal reporting, and will not adversely affect counterintelligence; and

(3) not later than 30 days after receiving all necessary certifications under paragraph (2), present the proposed alternatives and certifications to the congressional defense and intelligence committees.