Sponsor
Edward John Markey
Senator · D-MA
Senator · D-MA
The bill protects service members' pay and health benefits while imposing a $750 billion FY2027 defense cap, trading budget restraint for increased risk to readiness, modernization, and crisis-response flexibility.
Active-duty service members, retirees, and their dependents will keep pay and personnel benefits protected from reductions if the overall defense budget is reduced.
Active-duty service members, retirees, and dependents will retain military health services funding despite the overall budget cap, preserving access to care.
Taxpayers will see total national defense spending capped at $750 billion for FY2027, limiting growth in defense outlays relative to higher baselines.
Military units and missions may face cuts to readiness, operations, procurement, or modernization if the cap forces reductions, potentially degrading military capability over time.
Defense contractors, R&D programs, and related jobs may bear disproportionate cuts because protected personnel and health accounts force reductions in procurement and modernization, slowing technological advancement.
Congress and the Executive will have reduced flexibility to respond to unforeseen crises during FY2027 without emergency legislation or a cap waiver, potentially delaying needed defense spending.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Caps total national defense spending for FY2027 at $750 billion and forbids cutting Defense Health Program or military personnel accounts to meet that cap.
Official title: Cap the amount authorized to be appropriated for the national defense budget for fiscal year 2027 at $750,000,000,000.
Introduced June 16, 2026 by Edward John Markey · Last progress June 16, 2026
Caps total national defense spending for fiscal year 2027 at $750 billion and requires that any reductions made to meet that cap must not cut funding for the Defense Health Program or for military personnel accounts. It sets an overall fiscal limit on Department of Defense budgets while protecting service members’ pay and military medical funding from being used to meet the cap.