The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 sets defense policy and authorizes roughly $1 trillion for the Defense Department and the Energy Department's nuclear-weapons programs, covering weapons purchases, research, day-to-day operations, military construction, and the pay and benefits of about 1.34 million active-duty troops (Army 469,000, Navy 356,600, Marine Corps 173,700, Air Force 330,400, Space Force 13,200). For service members and their families, it raises the death gratuity paid to survivors from $100,000 to $165,000, makes permanent the authority to temporarily boost housing allowances in disaster and high-cost areas, and widens the Basic Needs Allowance for lower-income members. On health care, it adds TRICARE coverage for fertility treatment, allows up to a 365-day supply of contraception, and blocks the Pentagon from scaling back medical services at military hospitals and clinics. It also bars Defense funds from being used to limit collective bargaining, lay off school, child-care, and health-care workers, or freeze hiring at public shipyards. On the contracting side it authorizes long-term multiyear purchases of major weapons such as the F-35, F-15EX, Arleigh Burke destroyers, and key munitions while tightening some contractor pricing and intellectual-property rules, and on national-security policy it extends the existing ban on transferring or releasing Guantanamo Bay detainees through 2027, makes permanent Army counterintelligence agents' authority to make arrests, and ends military appeals courts' power to review whether a court-martial conviction was supported by the facts.
Corporate Benefits
- Multiyear procurement contracts — Authorized for F-35, F-15EX, and E-2D aircraft
- Multiyear procurement contracts — Authorized for Arleigh Burke destroyers and Oilers
- Multiyear procurement contracts — Authorized for certain munitions and platforms
- Contractor progress-payment protection — Suspension limited to cases with substantial evidence
- Contractor late cost-data defense — Removed for updates after price agreement
- Contractor exclusive rights to technical data — Default government-purpose rights set for deliverables
- Contractor termination liability — Capped at funding obligated at time of termination
Average Household Impact
- Military death gratuity — Raised from $100,000 to $165,000 for survivors
- Housing allowance — Permanent authority added for temporary increases in disaster and high-cost areas
- Basic Needs Allowance — Housing allowance excluded from income, widening eligibility
- TRICARE fertility coverage — Added for certain members and dependents
- TRICARE contraception supply — Up to a 365-day supply allowed per fill
- Military hospital service levels — Pentagon barred from narrowing scope of medical care
- Collective bargaining for DoD workers — Funds barred from implementing exclusion order
- DoDEA, child-care, and health-care worker jobs — Funds barred from terminating these employees
- Public shipyard staffing — Hiring freezes and layoffs without cause prohibited
Civil Liberties
- Guantanamo detainee transfer and release — Funding prohibition extended through 2027
- Guantanamo facility closure — Funding prohibition extended through 2027
- Army counterintelligence arrest authority — Four-year sunset removed, made permanent
Criminal Justice & Due Process
- Factual-sufficiency review on appeal — Removed for court-martial convictions
- Victim access to military appeals court — Expanded for crime victims
- Special trial counsel pretrial agreements — Authority added for certain offenses
Environmental Concerns
- Nuclear energy in DoD energy policy — Added alongside renewable energy sources
- Sustainable aviation fuel — Procurement authorized even above conventional fuel cost
- Domestic e-waste recycling — Pilot added for secure recycling and material recovery
- Military munitions cleanup scope — Standardized documentation required for response projects
Transparency & Accountability
- Outside income for OSD officials — Barred during service in the Secretary's office
- Post-service DoD lobbying restriction — Expanded for certain former officers and employees
- Reporting requirements — Several obsolete defense reports and briefings repealed
- IG targeting-investigation findings — Required to be made public
- Chinese military company reporting — Public reporting extended to 2035
- Defense-supplier merger review — Triennial review of major-supplier consolidation added
- Anti-retaliation protection — New UCMJ offense for retaliating against sexual-harassment reports
Congressional Summary
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027This bill sets forth policies and authorities for FY2027 for Department of Defense (DOD) programs, activities, and military construction as well as the national security programs of the Department of Energy (DOE).Among other elements, the billauthorizes the procurement of various items, including aircraft and ships;sets active duty and reserve component personnel strength levels;sets policy regarding various aspects of military health care and military compensation;sets policy regarding DOD acquisitions and acquisition management, including contracting authorities and the acquisition workforce;sets policy for various matters related to DOD interactions with foreign nations, including matters concerning Israel, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific;sets policy for various matters related to DOD cybersecurity and artificial intelligence;requires DOD to include projected demand for foreign military sales in certain contexts, including munitions production planning, sustainment planning for major defense acquisition programs, and decisions regarding production rate increases of defense articles;requires DOD to establish an expedited qualification process for new domestic and allied sources of certain strategic materials, including specified metals, alloys, oxides, and magnets;authorizes specified military construction projects and extends the authorization of certain projects from previous fiscal years; and authorizes the National Nuclear Security Administration, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Naval Petroleum Reserves, and Maritime Administration.For additional information on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) seeIn Focus IF10516, Defense Primer: Navigating the NDAA, andIn Focus IF10515, Defense Primer: The NDAA Process.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Reported to House
- Action Date
- 2026-06-15
- Date Added
- 2026-06-30
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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