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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1)

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Representative Ed Case (HI-01) today voted for the final compromise version of the $900 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that includes six of his amendments and various other requests for Hawai‘i and the broader Indo-Pacific, including $1 billion for military construction projects in Hawai‘i.

The annual measure, setting priorities, policy and funding for the Department of Defense (DOD) and other national security activities and programs for the year, also includes Case-requested provisions to increase funding and staffing for the United States Coast Guard and expand Coast Guard operations in the Indo-Pacific.

NDAA. The final version of the NDAA authorizes $900 billion to invest in our service members, their equipment and related infrastructure. The annual authorization is considered must-pass legislation, with Congress enacting one every year since fiscal 1962. It is separate from the regular annual appropriations bills that Congressman Case helps draft as a member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee; these bills actually direct funding using the NDAA as an authorizing framework.  

“Our National Defense Authorization Act is a critical annual measure that not only authorizes our defense spending for the year, supplementing my Appropriations Committee’s parallel funding responsibilities, but also establishes defense policies, including organization and administration of the Defense Department,” said Case, who serves on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, responsible for funding all defense and intelligence community programs, and previously served on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.  

“While the NDAA also addresses military readiness, the measure also supports several quality-of-life provisions that are critical to service members and their families,” said Case.

The bill includes language encouraging the Army to fully develop and communicate its plans for the leased lands at Pōhakuloa Training Area to all stakeholders. It encourages the Army to continue working with the State of Hawai‘i and Congress to ensure any appropriate legislative authority aligns with the value of land in Hawai‘i and meets the training needs of all the services. 

Given the positive economic impact from military construction in Hawai‘i, Case highlighted various military construction projects he supported that were included in the final version of the NDAA, including: 

·        $142 million to commence a multi-year project to build a water treatment plant at Red Hill that would allow the drinking water shaft to be reopened and help remove any residual contaminants from the ground surrounding Red Hill. Case has worked both through the authorization and appropriations bills to advance this critical project. 

·        $493 million of additional funding to continue construction a new drydock at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. This is a multi-billion dollar project requiring sustained funding over several years and is the largest current military construction project in the DOD today.

·        $66 million for airfield improvements at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. 

·        $147 million for Military Housing Privatization Initiative projects (460 units) at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. 

·        $37 million for Water Reclamation Facility Compliance Upgrades at Marine Corp Base Hawai‘i. 

·        $49 million to replace the main gate at Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i.  

·        $83 million for DDG-1000 Ship Support Infrastructure Upgrades at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. 

·        $15 million to modernize the electrical distribution system at Marine Corp Base Hawai‘i.  

The bill includes several provisions Case proposed as amendments during the House’s consideration of the bill, including:  

·        Directing the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment and United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) to assess the critical civilian and military infrastructure investments needed in Hawai‘i for any potential conflict. 

·        Directing the Army to conduct a study and send Congress a report on options for expanding a reserve contracted wartime sealift capacity in the Indo-Pacific region. Hawai‘i is the home to the Army’s 8th Theater Support Command that is responsible for leading logistics and sustainment operations across the vast Indo-Pacific region, including ocean going transport. 

·        Directing the Government Accountability Office to examine how to improve the military’s foreign exchange programs, which are a key soft-power tool that strengthen the ties between America and other countries throughout the globe.

·        Directing USINDOPACOM to assess how to strengthen community relationships between the U.S. Armed Forces and Freely Associated States (FAS) citizens from the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia impacted by military installations and operating locations in the FAS. 

·        Preventing the Navy for from taking any action to disestablish the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Pacific located at Pearl Harbor, which had been proposed by the Trump administration. The provision would also require the Secretary to provide a briefing to Congress on: (1) the status of the decision of the Secretary with respect to the disestablishment of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Pacific; and (2) the strategic rationale, cost and benefits of such disestablishment. 

·        Directing the Navy, in coordination with USINDOPACOM, to assess the capacity of each U.S. public and private shipyard, and each foreign shipyard of an allied or partner country, to support battle damage repair in the event of an armed conflict in the Indo-Pacific. 

The bill further includes several provisions advocated for and supported by Case to continue the military’s investment in Hawai‘i and the Indo-Pacific, including:  

·        Prohibiting the DOD from carrying out a hiring freeze or reduction in force of certain public shipyard workers. 

·        Requiring the Secretary of the Navy to induct a class of not fewer than 100 apprentices at each of the Navy’s shipyards, including Pearl Harbor. 

·        Directing the military to provide a report to Congress assessing the feasibility of, and funding necessary to accelerate the development and deployment of the major elements and programs comprising the next-generation air and missile defense architecture, to include Hawai‘i.

·        Directing the military to brief Congress on the use and future potential of the Defense Access Roads Program in the Indo-Pacific region. Hawai‘i has previously used funding for this program to help improve Hawai‘i Route 200 on the Big Island. 

·        Providing $50 million for the purpose of aiding local educational agencies with military dependent students through the Impact Aid Program, and $20 million for local educational agencies eligible to receive payment for children with severe disabilities. The Impact Aid Program provides crucial federal funding to the Hawai‘i Department of Education by compensating for lost local property tax revenue due to the presence of U.S. military bases.  

·        Reaffirming support for the Pacific Deterrence initiative as a mechanism to strengthen U.S. posture in the Indo-Pacific reassure allies and partners and build readiness and operational capability in the region. 

·        Proving $1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative designed to enhance Taiwan’s defense capabilities and resilience. 

·        Providing $1.4 billion for Pacific Deterrence Initiative related construction, including another $364 million for USINDOPACOM’s Military Construction Pilot Program to support minor construction projects across the Indo-Pacific. 

·        Directing the Air Force to submit a report to Congress on the potential value of ultra-short takeoff and landing aircraft in the Indo-Pacific. The report will assess potential missions, users and non-military uses, such as humanitarian relief and wildfire suppression. 

·        Requiring the Air Force to incorporate depot-level maintenance in at least one multinational exercise conducted in the Indo-Pacific. 

·        Requiring the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with USINDOPACOM, to conduct a comprehensive joint mobilization and sustainment readiness study to assess the capability of the U.S. military to respond to a high-intensity conflict in the Indo-Pacific. 

·        Directing the military, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Transportation, to assess the feasibility and advisability of the United States removing oil from three World War II-era sunken Japanese oil tankers located in the waters near the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau. 

·        Directing the executive branch to provide certain telehealth benefits and mail order pharmacy benefits to veterans in the FAS. 

·        Expanding eligibility for intergovernmental support agreements to include the State of Yap of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau. 

·        Requiring the military, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to establish and maintain a security cooperation initiative to strengthen cooperation among the defense industrial bases of the United States and allied and partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region.  

·        Requiring the Secretary of Defense to implement a strategy to strengthen multilateral deterrence against regional aggression in the Indo-Pacific by expanding multilateral coordination with United States allies and partners in the region.  

·        Authorizing the military to provide a living quarter allowance for DOD civilian employees with “permanent duty station” in Guam. 

The FY 2026 NDAA also makes the most substantive reforms to the defense acquisition process and system in decades. It seeks to reduce the complexity, cost and risk of doing business with U.S. military by establishing a new acquisition architecture based on five key pillars of reform:  

·        Aligning acquisition to service members’ priorities and operational outcomes,

·        Accelerating the requirements process,  

·        Finding a balance between the need for regulation and efficiency  

·        Strengthening the American industrial base and leveraging commercial innovation, and

·        Developing a mission-oriented acquisition workforce. 

The reforms arise in part from the work of the bipartisan House Defense Modernization Caucus, of which Case is a member.

Finally, the bill includes a 3.8% pay raise for members of the armed forces. It also includes the following provisions to help our nation’s service members: 

·        Increased oversight of food programs across the services and of the Basic Allowance for Subsistence to ensure funds are used to provide food for service members,

·        Requiring a pay and benefits education campaign for service members and their families,   

·        Expanding access to food on military installations by granting the Services authorities to conduct pilot programs to reform their food programs, and 

·        Requiring an analysis of alternative methods for calculating the Basic Allowance for Housing to better reflect market trends.  

USCG Authorization. Congress included USCG Authorization as a separate section of the NDAA. It authorizes $35 billion in appropriations for USCG for FY 2026 and 2027, an overall 25 percent increase from previous authorization levels. It also increases the number of authorized active-duty personnel by 18 percent.  

Also included was a provision from Case’s Pacific Ready Coast Guard Act that requires an annual plan and budget display for Coast Guard operations in the Pacific. (More information about this provision is available at https://tinyurl.com/CASEUSCG.) 

Other provisions relevant to Hawai‘i and the Indo-Pacific include: 

·        Creating a Special Advisor to the Commandant for Tribal and Native Hawaiian Affairs, along with an annual briefing to Congress on their activities.  

·        Allowing the USCG Commandant to provide federal financial assistance to Native Hawaiian organizations if certain natural or cultural resources are damaged by certain Coast Guard actions.  

·        Requiring a feasibility study on supporting additional USCG port visits and deployments in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. 

·        Requiring the Coast Guard to develop a plan to increase joint and integrated training opportunities for USCG and the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration.  

  ATTACHMENTS:  

·        A summary of the FY 2025 NDAA is available here. 

·        The text of the bill is available here.  

·        The explanatory committee report is available here.  

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jared Huffman Representing the 2nd District of California

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mark Takano (D-Calif)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Mark Pocan (2nd District of Wisconsin)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02), co-chair and co-founder of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, released the following statement after voting against final passage of the $890.6 billion FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill’s topline does not reflect the additional $150 billion added to the Pentagon’s budget through the Big Ugly Law this past July, pushing total military spending over $1 trillion for the first time. Rep. Pocan continues his streak of never having voted in favor of an NDAA since being elected to Congress in 2012.

“Once again, Congress is choosing to funnel exorbitant sums into a bloated defense department instead of investing in the everyday needs of working families, like housing, healthcare, and rising costs at the grocery store. The Pentagon remains the only major agency that continues to fail an audit year after year. Yet we keep writing essentially blank checks to defense contractors with little accountability and few results to show for it, while ignoring the needs of our troops who bravely serve our nation. Until lawmakers prioritize people over the Pentagon and demand real oversight, I will continue opposing these reckless, out-of-control defense bills.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jim Baird (R-IN-04)

Congressman Baird Statement on Passage of FY26 NDAA

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03)

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY-02), and Congressman Bob Onder (R-MO-03) introduced the bipartisan Student Financial Clarity Act to increase price transparency for American students as they navigate higher education opportunities. This legislation would create a Universal Net Price Calculator and bolster the College Scorecard to provide additional information about specific programs of study.

“Families deserve clear, accessible information when making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “The Student Financial Clarity Act builds on years of work to strengthen Net Price Calculators and expands those reforms through a modernized College Scorecard with transparency on costs, aid, and student outcomes broken down by institution and program. This bill delivers on the simple idea that every student should know what they are paying for and what they can expect in return. I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to help students and parents navigate the path to higher education with confidence.” “Today, America’s young people face the daunting task of navigating an increasingly complex higher education landscape. As a result of the skyrocketing cost of education, Americans now owe nearly $1.8 trillion in student loans,” said Congressman Guthrie. “My Student Financial Clarity Act would allow students to easily access information about the costs and outcomes at institutions and individual programs so they can evaluate the program that is best suited for their academic interests and financial means. This bill will bring much-needed clarity for the American student.”
“I am proud to join Congressman Guthrie in leading the Student Financial Clarity Act. With the cost of higher education continuing to rise, it is crucial that we help students thrive by creating transparency around institutions, programs, and costs. This is exactly what the Student Financial Clarity Act will accomplish. By creating an accurate Universal Net Price Calculator, this bill will empower students to compare universities and programs to help identify the best option not only for their educational future but also for their financial future,” said Congressman Bob Onder.
Since 2008, Congress has required institutions of higher education to provide Net Price Calculator tools on their websites as a part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act. However, this tool has been implemented inconsistently, resulting in students experiencing difficulty in accessing important information when making the most crucial decisions of their academic careers. If enacted, the Student Financial Clarity Act would:

Create a Universal Net Price Calculator, which would allow students to answer a set of financial and academic questions to receive personalized cost estimates for institutions and programs of study.

Provide a central location for students to compare costs at one or more schools and programs of study, specific to their financial situation.

Expand the College Scorecard to require additional information on program-level statistics, allowing students to compare student costs, outcomes, and financial aid at institutions and specific programs of study.

This legislation is expected to be marked up by the House Committee on Education and Workforce on December 11, 2025.
Trahan has consistently worked to increase transparency for students and families considering higher education dating back to her time as a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor during her first term. Last Congress, she reintroduced her Net Price Calculator Improvement Act, which would ensure that prospective students have the full picture of what it will cost to attend a higher education institution.
A copy of the legislation introduced yesterday can be accessed HERE.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Rutherford (4th District of Florida)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, U.S. Congressman John H. Rutherford (FL-05) released the following statement on the House passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

“As our country faces growing threats worldwide, it is important that we ensure the men and women who defend our nation in uniform have the resources they need to fulfill their mission at home and abroad. That is why I was proud to vote YES to pass this year’s defense bill to improve our servicemembers’ quality of life, bolster our military readiness, strengthen recruitment and retention of our armed forces, and deliver for our military families. 

“This year’s defense bill furthers my commitment to supporting our troops and keeping America safe by:

• Providing a 3.8% military pay raise for all servicemembers
• Investing and improving military housing infrastructure to improve living conditions for our servicemembers and their families
• Codifying President Trump’s Executive Orders like the Golden Dome program
• Fully funding the deployment of National Guard and active-duty troops in support of Border Patrol activities at the southwest border
• Reforming military construction to increase efficiency and reduce costs
• Eliminating Biden administration-era DEI programs
• Authorizing the procurement of four E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes

“Additionally, this bill includes support for vital construction projects at Northeast Florida military installations that will improve readiness and servicemember quality of life. If we want to keep America safe, we must provide for our military and their families. I was proud to vote in favor of this year’s NDAA and look forward to seeing it signed into law.”

Please find the bill summary here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — This week, House Republicans are advancing the FY26 NDAA — the centerpiece of President Trump’s Peace Through Strength Agenda and the plan to restore unmatched American military dominance. This legislation rebuilds a lethal warfighting edge, ends Biden’s woke agenda in the military, keeps the border secured, and reestablishes real deterrence after years of weakness.

It enacts key Trump executive actions, revitalizes the defense industrial base, strengthens servicemember quality of life — and still saves taxpayers nearly $20 billion.

CODIFYING PRESIDENT TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ACTIONS

The FY26 NDAA carries out President Trump’s commitment to rebuild American strength and deter aggression by codifying all or parts of 15 major executive actions, including:

1. Restoring America’s Fighting Force (EO 14185)
2. Ending Radical and Wasteful DEI Programs (EO 14151)
3. Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border (Proclamation 10886)
4. Securing Our Borders (EO 14165)
5. Clarifying the Military’s Role in Defending U.S. Territorial Integrity (EO 14167)
6. Modernizing Defense Acquisitions & Spurring Innovation (EO 14265) 
7. Building the Golden Dome for America (EO 14186)
8. Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security (EO 14299)
9. Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty (EO 14305)
10. Unleashing American Drone Dominance (EO 14307)

The bill also codifies 30 key legislative proposals requested by the Trump Administration, including:

• Eliminating statutory DEI provisions in the Department of War (DoW)
• Revising national missile defense policy to align with the Golden Dome for America
• Extending expiring bonus and special pay authorities
• Expanding joint counterterrorism and counter–transnational organized crime authorities
• Providing DoW support to protect U.S. airspace, maritime domain, and territory
• Extending authorities to assist partners combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria

AMERICA FIRST WINS

The FY26 NDAA delivers major conservative victories that restore mission focus:

• Ends wokeness and DEI by eliminating programs, offices, and training across DoW.
• Secures the border by expanding DoW support for DHS operations, National Guard deployments, and National Defense Areas.
• Improves quality of life for servicemembers: Delivers a 3.8% pay raise and better housing, food, health care, and childcare.
• Revitalizes the defense industrial base: Grows U.S. defense manufacturing jobs, onshore critical supply chains, and expands surge capacity.
• Ensures allies pay their fair share: Adds new tools to push allies to shoulder more of their own defense costs.
• Keeps terrorists locked up at Guantanamo: Extends the prohibition on closing the GITMO detention facility and blocks the transfer of terrorists to Afghanistan or any state sponsor of terrorism.
• Counters global threats: Strengthens counterterrorism tools, deters China in the Indo-Pacific, and ensures allies contribute more to collective defense.

BUDGET SAVINGS & REFORMS

The FY26 NDAA authorizes $900.6 billion in national defense spending — while saving nearly $20 billion through targeted reforms:

• $40.5 million from eliminating DEI activities
• $6.8 billion from reductions in unnecessary Pentagon bureaucracy
• $5.5 billion in cuts to consulting and service contracts  
• $3.7 billion in cuts to inefficient defense programs
• $1.6 billion in cuts to climate change-related spending 
• $1.2 billion from retiring obsolete aircraft and ships

The NDAA also advances President Trump’s civil service reforms by modernizing the DoW civilian workforce, promoting skills-based hiring and performance-based advancement, and cutting wasteful red tape.

READY, CAPABLE, AND LETHAL FIGHTING FORCE

The FY26 NDAA ensures the U.S. military remains ready, capable, and lethal by:

• Improving maintenance and spare-parts readiness for key systems like the F-35 and Navy ships.
• Preserving critical platforms while accelerating next-generation aircraft, ships, vehicles, and munitions.
• Authorizing major investments in shipbuilding, aircraft, munitions, and emerging technologies.
• Modernizing the nuclear triad and strengthening missile defense and space capabilities.
• Prioritizing innovation in AI, cyber, quantum, hypersonic, and biotechnology to keep America ahead of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

BOTTOM LINE:

With the NDAA, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are restoring American strength, defending our homeland, standing with our allies, and ensuring the United States remains the most powerful and capable military force the world has ever known.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — This afternoon, Speaker Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries hosted the third annual Capitol Menorah Lighting Ceremony to commemorate upcoming the eight-day festival of Hanukkah. Reps. Craig Goldman and Randy Fine and Rabbi Levi Shemtov joined Congressional leaders at the ceremony.

Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here.

Below are Speaker Johnson’s remarks as delivered:

This is a special time of year, and we like to do this. We enjoy this because we gather here in the People’s House to celebrate our fellow Americans of all faiths. And this is an important one.

The Festival of Hanukkah, at its heart, is a celebration of course, of courage of the Jewish people’s steadfast defense of their faith over centuries of persecution. And we don’t ever forget that.

It was more than 2,000 years ago in the ancient land of Israel; the Jewish people were denied the most basic freedom to pray and to express their faith in the holiest of places. And it was then that a fearless patriot, known as Judah Maccabee, led a small band of brothers to reclaim the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

When the temple was restored, the menorah’s oil that should have lasted only one day, burned instead for eight miraculous days. I’m telling you this story as if Rabbi Shemtov didn’t cover it already, but for those who are tuning in late, this is the history.

It’s during Hanukkah that the Jewish people celebrate and commemorate this miracle by lighting the menorah each year. Today, that same light will shine here in the People’s House. And that’s what is important. It shines as a symbol of the resilience and the perseverance, the eternal hope of the Jewish people.

I don’t know if it was explained the significance of this particular menorah. Well, it was a gift to us, and it is made of the steel that came off of the bombs that were shot down over Israel, the missiles that the Iron Dome was taken down. So, it’s particularly meaningful and a poignant reminder of just what we’re talking about, the perseverance of the Jewish people over all these years.

And as we light the menorah, we’re grateful for the many freedoms we enjoy as Americans, and among them, the freedom to worship freely and without fear of persecution and injustice.

Yesterday, I entertained Speaker Ohana, my counterpart of the Israeli Knesset. He was in town, as many of you know, some of y’all met with him. He’s become a good friend and a colleague. And he was here because we jointly signed a letter to nominate our president, President Trump, for the next Nobel Peace Prize in 2026.

And it was Speaker Ohana’s idea, because he thought that this was an appropriate thing, having settled now eight conflicts and bloody wars conflicts around the world, that he and I would be co-signatories on this and that we would ask all of our colleagues, the other speakers and presidents of the great parliaments around the world to join us in that.

So, it’d be a joint nomination of the President of the United States for the Nobel Peace Prize. I think it’s very appropriate. I thanked him for that. We had a joint signing ceremony. But we exchanged gifts. And he gave to me a ninth-century clay pot. It was actually for oil. Priceless. I didn’t want to touch it. I said, everybody can stand away from that. It came from, I think the First Temple is what he told me, and it’s an incredible piece of history as a gift.

And what I gave to him in exchange, was a copy of the father of our country’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation that he wrote in 1790. The Jewish leaders there had had written to him, and they had concern about their protection in the United States in this new country of ours. And they asked the president of our country, would their religious freedom be respected?

And the president of our country, the father of our country, George Washington, said in his own hand, his own words, he said this is a natural right, that you are given this right by God, not by government, and the United States will jealously protect that. The right of every single person to have the religious liberty, the first freedom we call it, to worship and to live as you please.

And that’s has always been a part of our tradition. And we recognize that here. This cherished tradition is an ideal articulated in our earliest days as a young nation. And that’s what comes to mind when we do these things together.

I just want to say that we take heart in knowing that even in the face of generations of bigotry, bondage, persecution, and exile, the Jewish people have endured, and they have flourished. And that at its very essence is what we celebrate today.

That the light of faith and love and courage and conviction will always guide us on the path to brighter days ahead. We’re so very grateful to everybody here for joining us to celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah. May your candles burn bright this season, and may God bless you all. Thank you.

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