Foreword
Historically, Congress has passed the annual Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act as bipartisan legislation, with defense spending widely considered a non-partisan issue. However, in recent years, the defense appropriations process has become more contentious with the inclusion of controversial social policy riders, the use of continuing resolutions to fund defense spending, and growing public awareness that the DOD has never successfully passed a financial audit. This year’s appropriations process for the 2026 defense budget has also suffered from the lack of a budget request from the Pentagon, which it customarily submits in February. This year, Congress received it in…
