Defense Appropriations

The chief of the National Guard Bureau underscored the Guard’s indispensable dual role in testimony Friday before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense.

Adjutants general from 22 states with Air National Guard fighter units signed a letter to Congress this month seeking multiyear funding for the Air Force to purchase between 72 and 100 new fighter jets to recapitalize the Total Air Force.

The White House released its fiscal 2027 budget blueprint Friday with a record 44-percent increase in defense spending.

The White House will unveil the framework of its proposed $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 defense budget request to Congress on Friday, according to multiple published reports.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled a comprehensive plan to accelerate the Pentagon’s acquisition process, aiming to deliver new weapons and systems faster.

Since Congress failed to pass normal appropriations or a stopgap budget before the start of the fiscal year on Tuesday, the federal government is officially shut down.

Three associations that combine to represent all of the nation’s nearly 800,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists are urging congressional leaders to pass fiscal 2026 appropriations for defense, military construction and veterans affairs.

Senate lawmakers hit the ground running Tuesday by voting to proceed to debate on the annual defense policy bill.

The Senate Appropriations Committee last week approved a defense appropriations measure providing $851.9 billion in discretionary spending, which is 2.5% above the president’s fiscal 2026 request.

Prominent Republicans are saying President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2026 defense budget request does not deliver the “unprecedented” increase in defense and border security the White House claims.

NGAUS has requested Congress fund several items in its fiscal 2025 defense appropriations bill that would "significantly impact" the National Guard.

Lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a lame-duck session to complete the 118th Congress' business, including addressing the nation's annual defense policy bill and funding the federal government for fiscal 2025.