FY26 Defense Approps Bill Within Sight
Money Directed to High-Value Areas, But Major PPBE Reforms Missing
The HAC-D and SAC-D reached a compromise bill in conference last week and the House passed it (HR 7148) on Jan 22 with a $839B topline (an $8B increase).
It seems like a deal has been reached with the President (fingers crossed). We await the final vote in the Senate to get the bill passed and to the White House for signature. Avoiding another year-long CR will be a big win for acquisition transformation and the defense industrial base.
Catch-Up
If you want to catch-up on where we stood with the budget heading into the final appropriations bill, do a quick skim of our past budget posts.
Outline
This post will focus on the investment accounts in the defense budget while recognizing that O&M provides a substantial contribution to the modification and maintenance of systems and procurement of capability.
Top Line Takeaways
Procurement Details
Final Key Marks
Winners and Losers
RDT&E Details
Final Key Marks
Winners and Losers
Key Language
Reconciliation
Acquisition / PPBE Reform
Program Notes
Top Line Takeaways
In the final bill, procurement misses out on the proposed bigger plus-ups in the individual House and Senate bills but still gets a healthy ~9% increase.
RDT&E got less of an increase (~3%) but still saw a significant bump-up from the SAC-D position.
Overall, this proportion is not great (53% Procurement to 47% RDT&E). As we’ve written previously, warfighters need capability in the field not the lab.
Path to Approps
Below are some compelling info graphs courtesy of Obviant.
