House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said he is seeking $450 billion in defense funding through an upcoming reconciliation bill and preparing to use the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act to expand the defense industrial base, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.
In an exclusive interview with the publication, Rogers said he is coordinating with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., to secure the funding and has already informed congressional leadership of the plan.
Why Is the $450B in Reconciliation Funding Important to the FY27 Defense Plan?
According to Rogers, the $450 billion figure is required to close the gap between a projected White House defense budget request and President Donald Trump’s FY27 defense spending target of $1.5 trillion.
The HASC chair acknowledged that passing such a measure could be challenging amid narrow Republican margins and a limited legislative window, with Democrats projected to regain control of the House in the upcoming midterm elections.
Despite those challenges, he said the funding increase is necessary to support the Golden Dome missile defense initiative, the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program, the F-47 sixth-generation fighter aircraft and other major defense modernization programs.
How Is HASC Addressing the Defense Industrial Base Expansion in FY27 NDAA?
Rogers said HASC has begun work on the FY27 NDAA and is engaging commercial companies to identify barriers and incentives related to expanding the defense industrial base.
“That’s our question to these folks, and we’ve already started bringing them in and asking them, ‘What can we do to incentivize you to get into the defense production?’” the lawmaker told Breaking Defense. “Taking the traditionals and non-traditionals, what can we do to incentivize you to grow? [For] the primes, what can we do to incentivize you to expand?”
