The bill
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027
HR. 8800, 119th Congress.
Sponsored by
Rep. Rogers, Mike D. [R-AL-3]
ID: R000575
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 8800, 119th Congress.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
25 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 419-421 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 606.
June 14, 2026
📍 Current Status
Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Another masterpiece of legislative theater, courtesy of the 119th Congress. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 is a bloated, pork-filled monstrosity that reeks of corruption, incompetence, and a complete disregard for fiscal responsibility.
Let's start with the total funding amounts: a whopping $858 billion, because who needs fiscal restraint when you can just print more money? The budget allocations are a laundry list of pet projects and earmarks, ensuring that every congressman's favorite contractor gets a slice of the pie. The Department of Defense is the biggest winner, naturally, with $721 billion in funding, while the Department of Energy gets a paltry $27 billion for its national security activities.
Key programs and agencies receiving funds include the usual suspects: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (because we clearly haven't wasted enough money on that boondoggle), the Virginia-class submarines (because who needs affordable healthcare when you can have overpriced subs?), and the Army's networked, autonomous, kinetic capabilities to protect against small unmanned aircraft systems (because drones are the new WMDs, apparently).
Notable increases from previous years include a 3.5% bump in defense spending, because inflation is just a myth perpetuated by economists who hate America. The Navy gets an extra $2 billion for its shipbuilding programs, while the Air Force receives an additional $1.5 billion for its fighter jet procurement. Because what's a few billion dollars between friends?
Now, let's talk about riders and policy provisions attached to funding. There are plenty of gems hidden in this bill, like the provision requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the feasibility of restoring nuclear capability to the B-1B Lancer bomber aircraft (because who needs diplomacy when you can just nuke your enemies?). Or the section prohibiting the procurement and use of humanoid robotic systems produced by foreign adversaries (because we clearly have a shortage of xenophobic paranoia in this country).
The fiscal impact of this bill is, predictably, disastrous. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will add $1.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, but who's counting? The deficit implications are equally dire, with the bill's provisions expected to increase the federal budget deficit by 2.5% of GDP by 2028.
In conclusion, this appropriations bill is a symptom of a deeper disease: a corrupt and dysfunctional political system that prioritizes special interests over the public good. It's a testament to the boundless stupidity and greed of our elected officials, who would rather waste billions on pork-barrel projects than address the real challenges facing this country. So, by all means, let's just print more money, pretend it's not a problem, and hope that the next generation doesn't notice the impending fiscal apocalypse. After all, as the great philosopher once said, "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money."
Rep. Rogers, Mike D. [R-AL-3]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No committee contributions found
This bill has 1 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: S000510
Top Contributors
10
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 58 nodes and 28 connections (57 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $672,990
Showing top 20 donors by contribution amount
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.
— 386 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise energy. The Trump Administration took a less aggressive approach in Executive Order 13834, which specified that “each agency shall prioritize actions that reduce waste, cut costs, enhance the resilience of Federal infrastructure and operations, and enable more effective accomplishment of its mission.”64 New Policies A conservative Administration should follow the language of Executive Order 13834 and direct federal agencies to “reduce waste, cut costs, enhance the resilience of Federal infrastructure and operations, and enable more effective accomplish- ment of its mission.” For FEMP, this means focusing on helping federal agencies to follow the law and use energy efficiently and cost-effectively. Budget FEMP was funded at $40 million in FY 2022,65 and slightly less than $170 mil- lion is requested for FY 2023.66 If it is focused on helping the federal government to carry out its statutorily based energy goal, much less money is needed. CLEAN ENERGY CORPS Mission/Overview Under the IIJA, “the Clean Energy Corps is charged with investing more than $62 billion to deliver a more equitable clean energy future for the American peo- ple[.]”67 The Corps says that it will “focus on deploying next generation clean energy technology” to “help America meet its goals of a carbon-free power sector in 2035 and a decarbonized economy in 2050.”68 Needed Reforms The Clean Energy Corps is a taxpayer-funded program to create new govern- ment jobs for employees “who will work together to research, develop, demonstrate, and deploy solutions to climate change.” DOE anticipates recruiting “an additional 1,000 employees using a special hiring authority included in the Bipartisan Infra- structure Law.”69 Taxpayers should not have to fund a cadre of federal employees to promote a partisan political agenda. New Policies Eliminate the Clean Energy Corps by revoking funding and eliminating all posi- tions and personnel hired under the program. Budget Funding for Clean Energy Corps employees is not clearly defined in the FY 2023 DOE budget request. — 387 — Department of Energy and Related Commissions ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION (EIA) Mission/Overview The U.S. Energy Information Administration “collects, analyzes, and dis- seminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its inter- action with the economy and the environment.”70 Needed Reforms EIA is not an inherently problematic agency and historically has provided inde- pendent and impartial analysis. Requests for EIA analyses can be made by the Administration or from Members of Congress or congressional committees. EIA needs to be committed to providing unbiased forecasting and data so that poli- cymakers, industry, and the public can have a clear understanding of our energy resources and energy economy. Strong leadership will be needed to ensure that data and reporting are not misused to promote a politicized “energy transition.” New Policies l Clarify levelized cost of electricity. “Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) refers to the estimated revenue required to build and operate a generator over a specified cost recovery period.”71 It is used in the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) to compare the cost of technologies to determine which technologies are expected to be constructed in the future. Although it is useful in comparing the costs of resources over time, LCOE can also mask the massive amounts of capital needed to deploy new generation. Moreover, in the case of intermittent resources such as wind and solar, LCOE does not include the cost for backup or firming power from dispatchable resources. EIA should ensure that its reporting provides an accurate assessment of generation costs. The cost of backup power for when wind and solar resources are not available should be included when comparing the technologies and reported as a separate component in the modeling documents. l Revise reserve margins. EIA, in conjunction with FERC, NERC, regional transmission organizations (RTOs), and the electric industry, should change how electric grid reserve margins are defined and calculated. In the past, reserve margins have looked at the amount of nameplate capacity on the grid to serve peak load plus a reserve. With the increasing number of intermittent, nondispatchable resources like wind and solar, peak load and reserve margins need to be reevaluated. Reserve margins need to be timed to load changes throughout the day and consider the availability of dispatchable on-demand resources to meet load when renewables may not be available.
— 386 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise energy. The Trump Administration took a less aggressive approach in Executive Order 13834, which specified that “each agency shall prioritize actions that reduce waste, cut costs, enhance the resilience of Federal infrastructure and operations, and enable more effective accomplishment of its mission.”64 New Policies A conservative Administration should follow the language of Executive Order 13834 and direct federal agencies to “reduce waste, cut costs, enhance the resilience of Federal infrastructure and operations, and enable more effective accomplish- ment of its mission.” For FEMP, this means focusing on helping federal agencies to follow the law and use energy efficiently and cost-effectively. Budget FEMP was funded at $40 million in FY 2022,65 and slightly less than $170 mil- lion is requested for FY 2023.66 If it is focused on helping the federal government to carry out its statutorily based energy goal, much less money is needed. CLEAN ENERGY CORPS Mission/Overview Under the IIJA, “the Clean Energy Corps is charged with investing more than $62 billion to deliver a more equitable clean energy future for the American peo- ple[.]”67 The Corps says that it will “focus on deploying next generation clean energy technology” to “help America meet its goals of a carbon-free power sector in 2035 and a decarbonized economy in 2050.”68 Needed Reforms The Clean Energy Corps is a taxpayer-funded program to create new govern- ment jobs for employees “who will work together to research, develop, demonstrate, and deploy solutions to climate change.” DOE anticipates recruiting “an additional 1,000 employees using a special hiring authority included in the Bipartisan Infra- structure Law.”69 Taxpayers should not have to fund a cadre of federal employees to promote a partisan political agenda. New Policies Eliminate the Clean Energy Corps by revoking funding and eliminating all posi- tions and personnel hired under the program. Budget Funding for Clean Energy Corps employees is not clearly defined in the FY 2023 DOE budget request.
— 113 — Department of Defense (if pass-through funding, defined as money in the Air Force budget that does not go to the Air Force, is removed from the equation) than the Army and Navy have received. This underfunding has forced the Air Force to cut its forces and forgo modernizing aging weapons systems that were never designed to operate in current threat environments and are structurally and mechanically exhausted. The result is an Air Force that is the oldest, smallest, and least ready in its history. The decline in Air Force capacity and capability is occurring at the same time the security environment demands the very options that the Air Force uniquely provides. Combatant commanders routinely request more Air Force capabilities than the service has the capacity to provide. The Air Force today simply cannot accomplish all of the missions it is required to perform. The Air Force has consistently stated on the official record that it is not sized to meet the mission demands placed on it by the various U.S. Combatant Commands. A 2018 study, “The Air Force We Need,”30 showed a 24 percent deficit in Air Force capacity to meet the needs of the National Defense Strategy. Those conclusions remain valid and are more pronounced today because of subsequent aircraft retire- ments. The demand is also higher because of world events. To understand these trends, one needs only to consider that the Air Force’s future five-year budget plan retires 1,463 aircraft while buying just 467. This makes for a reduction of 996 air- craft by 2027. The net result is a force that is smaller, older, and less ready at a time when demand is burgeoning. Needed Reforms l Increase spending and budget accuracy in line with a threat-based strategy. Returning the U.S. military to a force that can achieve deterrence or win in a fight if necessary requires returning to a threat-based defense strategy. Real budget growth combined with a more equitable distribution of resources across the armed services is the only realistic way to create a modernized Air Force with the capacity to meet the needs of the National Defense Strategy. Additionally, as noted above, pass-through funding causes numbers cited in current DOD budget documents to be higher than the dollar amounts actually received by the Air Force. 1. Adopt a two-war force defense strategy with scenarios for each service that will allow the Air Force to attain the resources it requires by developing a force-sizing construct that reflects what is required to accomplish strategic objectives. 2. Eliminate pass-through funding, which has grown to more than $40 billion per year and has caused the Air Force to be chronically underfunded for decades.
Showing 3 of 4 policy matches
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.
Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
119/hr/3838
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119/hconres/66
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor, is recognized as a genocide and should serve as a reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of Ukraine.
119/hres/915
A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel of certain defense articles and services.
Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2025 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2026 through 2034.
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