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S. 1071 · 119th Congress

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026

Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX) · Introduced · 1 cosponsors

Public Law 119-60Armed Forces and National Security
Progress
100%
1
Introduced
A bill is formally introduced by a lawmaker; it is assigned an ID and sent to committee.
2
Committee
A smaller group of lawmakers reviews, debates, and edits the bill before it can advance.
3
Reported
After committee work, the committee releases a report and the bill can go to the full chamber for a vote.
4
Senate Vote
The bill has passed the full Senate.
5
House Vote
The bill has passed the full House of Representatives.
6
Passed Congress
Both the House and Senate have passed the bill; it moves to the President for final approval.
7
Sent to President
The bill has been sent to the President, who may sign it, veto it, or let a ten-day clock decide.
8
Became Law
The bill is now law — by the President's signature, by the ten-day rule when the President declines to sign, or by a two-thirds veto override.

Latest action

Became Public Law No: 119-60.

· from Congress.gov, as of August 8, 2026

Committees

Armed Services CommitteeVeterans' Affairs Committee

What this stage means

The bill is now law — by the President's signature, by the ten-day rule when the President declines to sign, or by a two-thirds veto override.

Why this matters

There are three constitutional paths to enactment, and only one of them requires the President's approval.

What can happen next

Executive agencies write regulations to implement it; courts may review challenges to it.

Study this bill

AP Gov
Unit 2 · Interactions Among Branches of Government

The constitutional question

Authorization versus appropriation — the distinction students most often miss. The NDAA sets policy and authorizes programs; separate appropriations bills provide the dollars. It has been enacted for more than six consecutive decades, making it the last reliably functioning piece of regular order in Congress — and this year's edition shows the full inter-chamber machine: the House passed H.R. 3838, the Senate passed S. 2296, and the negotiated final text became law on a third vehicle, S. 1071 (Public Law 119-60, December 18, 2025).

The strongest case for

The NDAA is the one moment each year when Congress actually governs the Pentagon: every program, pay raise, acquisition reform, and policy rider gets an annual, on-schedule, must-pass review that no other department receives. Its six-decade streak isn't inertia — it is the deliberate construction of a lane where partisanship is suspended enough to legislate, which is why members of both parties use it to force debates (on emerging technology, service-member quality of life, civilian oversight) that would die as standalone bills. In a Congress where the DHS appropriations process just produced a 76-day shutdown, the case for protecting the institution that still works makes itself.

The strongest case against

"Must-pass" is a subsidy for bad lawmaking: because the NDAA cannot fail, it becomes the Christmas tree onto which leadership grafts unrelated provisions that could never survive alone, and members must swallow whole packages to avoid voting 'against the troops.' The annual streak also launders topline growth — authorizing near a trillion dollars a year with review theater, since the authorization increasingly rubber-stamps what appropriators and the Pentagon already decided. And the three-bill shell shuffle (House number, Senate number, final on a third) means the text most members voted on is not the text that became law; conference-substitute lawmaking concentrates power in a handful of negotiators.

Foundational documents in play

  • U.S. Constitution

    Article I, Section 8 gives Congress — not the President — the power to raise, support, and make rules for the armed forces; the NDAA is that power exercised annually.

  • Federalist No. 51

    Civilian control of the military runs through this bill: the branch with the sword answers yearly to the branch with the rules and the purse.

Organizations supporting

Organizations opposing

This has happened before

The NDAA has become law every year for over sixty years — through shutdowns, impeachments, and one presidential veto override (the FY2021 act, passed over President Trump's veto in the final days of the 116th Congress: the only override of his first term, and a live demonstration of the two-thirds path to 'Became Law' without a signature). Compare it to this same Congress's DHS appropriations collapse: authorization running on rails while appropriations runs off them.

Practice FRQ

Concept Application. "Congress has enacted a National Defense Authorization Act every year for more than six decades; in 2025 the House and Senate passed different versions and the compromise text was enacted on a third bill number." (A) Describe the difference between an authorization and an appropriation. (B) Explain why annual must-pass status increases both congressional oversight and unrelated policy riders. (C) Explain how resolving House–Senate differences concentrates influence in a small group of members.

Sources: www.congress.gov · en.wikipedia.org

Action history

Every recorded action from Congress.gov — 45 total.

  1. Senate

    Message on Senate action sent to the House.

  2. Presented to President.

  3. House

    Presented to President.

  4. Signed by President.

  5. Signed by President.

  6. Became Public Law No: 119-60.

  7. Became Public Law No: 119-60.

  8. Senate

    Considered by Senate (Message from the House considered).

  9. Senate

    Motion by Senator Thune to concur in the House amendment to S. 1071 with an amendment (SA 3961) withdrawn in Senate.

  10. Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate agreed to the House amendment to S. 1071 by Yea-Nay Vote. 77 - 20. Record Vote Number: 648.

  11. Senate

    Senate agreed to the House amendment to S. 1071 by Yea-Nay Vote. 77 - 20. Record Vote Number: 648.

  12. Senate

    Considered by Senate (Message from the House considered). (consideration: CR S8749)

  13. Senate

    Cloture on the motion to concur in the House amendment to S. 1071 invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 76 - 20. Record Vote Number: 647. (CR S8707)

  14. Senate

    Motion by Senator Thune to refer to Senate Committee on Armed Services the House message to accompany S. 1071 with instructions to report back forthwith with the following amendment (SA 3963) fell when cloture was invoked on the motion to concur in the House amendment to S. 1071 in Senate.

  15. Senate

    Considered by Senate (Message from the House considered). (consideration: CR S8707-8708)

  16. Senate

    Motion to proceed to consideration of the House message to accompany S. 1071 agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 75 - 22. Record Vote Number: 646. (CR S8655)

  17. Senate

    Measure laid before Senate by motion. (consideration: CR S8655-8656)

  18. Senate

    Motion by Senator Thune to concur in the House amendment to S. 1071 made in Senate. (CR S8655)

  19. Senate

    Cloture motion on the motion to concur in the House amendment to S. 1071 presented in Senate. (CR S8655-8656)

  20. Senate

    Motion by Senator Thune to concur in the House amendment to S. 1071 with an amendment (SA 3961) made in Senate. (CR S8656)

  21. Senate

    Motion by Senator Thune to refer to Senate Committee on Armed Services the House message to accompany S. 1071 with instructions to report back forthwith with the following amendment (SA 3963) made in Senate. (CR S8656)

  22. House

    Rule H. Res. 936 passed House.

  23. House

    Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 936. (consideration: CR H5136-5518)

  24. House

    Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 3898, H.R. 3383, H.R. 3638, H.R. 3628, H.R. 3668 and S. 1071. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 3898, H.R. 3383, H.R. 3638, and H.R. 3628 under a structured rule; and H.R. 3668 and S. 1071 under a closed rule. The resolution provides for one motion to recommit on H.R. 3898, H.R. 3383, H.R. 3638, H.R. 3628, and H.R. 3668; and one motion to commit on S. 1071.

  25. House

    DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on S. 1071.

  26. House

    The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.

  27. House

    Mr. Norcross moved to commit to the Committee on Armed Services. (text: CR H5518)

  28. House

    The previous question on the motion to commit was ordered pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XIX.

  29. House

    POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on S. 1071, the Chair put the question on motion to commit and by voice vote announced the noes had prevailed. Mr. Norcross demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.

  30. House

    Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H5519-5520)

  31. House

    On motion to commit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 209 - 216 (Roll no. 319).

  32. House

    Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 312 - 112 (Roll no. 320). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H5136-5510)

  33. House

    On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 312 - 112 (Roll no. 320). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H5136-5510)

  34. House

    Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

  35. Senate

    Message on House action received in Senate and at desk: House amendment to Senate bill.

  36. House

    Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 936 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 3898, H.R. 3383, H.R. 3638, H.R. 3628, H.R. 3668 and S. 1071. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 3898, H.R. 3383, H.R. 3638, and H.R. 3628 under a structured rule; and H.R. 3668 and S. 1071 under a closed rule. The resolution provides for one motion to recommit on H.R. 3898, H.R. 3383, H.R. 3638, H.R. 3628, and H.R. 3668; and one motion to commit on S. 1071.

  37. Senate

    Message on Senate action sent to the House.

  38. House

    Received in the House.

  39. House

    Held at the desk.

  40. Senate

    Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.

  41. Senate

    Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.

  42. Senate

    Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.

  43. Senate

    Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S5475; text: CR S5475)

  44. Senate

    Introduced in Senate

  45. Senate

    Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.