‘A terrible risk’: Senate appropriators dim prospects of another defense reconciliation bill

Congress is unlikely to approve a third multi-hundred-billion-dollar budget maneuver to pad the Trump administration’s defense spending, Senate Republicans said Tuesday.

The occasion was a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel, where Air and Space Force leaders were testifying on the 2027 budget proposal. The committee chair, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, noted that some of their services’ top initiatives, such as F-35 modernization, are not part of the Trump administration’s $1.15 trillion baseline budget request. 

Instead, the White House is asking Congress to pass a $350 billion appropriation through reconciliation, a process for “mandatory” government spending that only requires a simple majority to pass. 

“I would just suggest that it is taking a terrible risk and creates instability when you’re counting on a third reconciliation bill for the bulk of the money rather than doing base funding through the defense appropriations bill,” Collins said. 

Added Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, chair of the defense subcommittee: “I think it’s safe to conclude there will not be another reconciliation bill. So, it’s really not an option.” 

Collins agreed. 

More than $150 billion in defense spending was signed into law last July 4 under the first reconciliation package, known as Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. On Tuesday, House Republicans passed “Reconciliation 2.0”, which would provide $70 billion for the administration’s immigration-enforcement agencies, but does not include defense funding.

But there are still top-priority efforts that the administration wants to fund through reconciliation including Golden Dome, shipbuilding, and munitions. 

The House Armed Services Committee completed its markup of its version of the annual defense policy bill last week. That version didn’t adjust the baseline in a substantial way to cover those reconciliation priorities, but top staffers said they were confident the additional funding would be secured. 

The White House budget office anticipates that baseline defense budgets will rise from $1.15 trillion to $1.36 trillion over the next decade. It has not published plans for additional reconciliation funding after 2027. 

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., added that she was also “very concerned” that the Defense Department was relying on reconciliation for top priorities.

When Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., asked whether a supplemental bill would be crucial if reconciliation isn’t passed, Air Force Secretary Meink responded that it’s “vital” that the services get their fully-funded budget request. He added the Pentagon and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget are working “on options.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said, “The Democrats have no intention of helping us pass a budget,” meaning the government could face another shutdown that would force the military to operate under a continuing resolution. 

Meink said that would harm the Air and Space Force.

“That would have significant impacts on our readiness,” Meink said. “A lot of the investments we’ve just been talking about to meet the threats from the unmanned vehicles, as well as the increased readiness for weapons systems, to increase the F-35 readiness, as well as munitions procurement, all of that is substantially impacted.”

Kennedy said the Air Force and Space Force should expect another continuing resolution.

“Well, I think you should prepare for it,” the lawmaker said. “Again, I hope I’m wrong.”