The Senate Armed Services Committee has released its version of the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which supports a total of $924.7 billion in national defense funding.
The committee said the FY 2026 NDAA is now headed to the Senate floor after it passed the defense policy bill in a 26-1 vote on Wednesday, July 9. Learn more about DOD’s air and space spending priorities for FY 2026 at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Air and Space Summit on July 31!
Table of Contents
Senate FY 2026 NDAA Includes FORGED Act Provisions
Federal News Network reported that the Senate panel’s FY 2026 NDAA version includes provisions from the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense, or the FORGED Act, introduced by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in December 2024.
“The FORGED act was a notional product introduced on Dec. 18. It was designed to elicit responses. It was designed to be a starting point for hundreds of engagements, maybe, and we started working on a bipartisan basis. Not all of the FORGED Act is in the NDAA now,” a senior congressional official told reporters Friday.
One of those provisions is amending the definition of a nontraditional defense contractor to include entities that do not have significant independent research and development or bid and proposal costs reimbursed by the government.
The NDAA also exempts nontraditional defense companies from several defense business requirements and requires that such contractors be treated as commercial firms unless a waiver is approved.
Other Proposed Acquisition Reforms in FY 2026 NDAA
The fiscal 2026 NDAA seeks to redefine program executive officers as portfolio acquisition executives, providing them with greater authorities and responsibilities for resourcing, requirements and acquisition.
The proposed measure would direct the establishment of capstone requirements for each portfolio acquisition executive; amend acquisition strategy requirements to focus on portfolio management of capability sets to promote competition and continuous iteration; and establish an alternative pathway for the test and evaluation of software acquisition programs using the software acquisition pathway and other programs designated by the secretary of defense.
The bill would amend the Commercial Solutions Openings solicitation procedure to eliminate approval thresholds and establish sole-source follow-on authority and establish a direct award to follow-on production authority for other transactions if the capability has been demonstrated in a relevant environment and a determination by the acquisition executive is made.
Related Articles
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 26-3 to pass a bill that would appropriate $851.9 billion in discretionary defense funding for fiscal year 2026. Weapons Systems Procurement The committee said Thursday the proposed FY 2026 Defense Appropriations Act would allocate $171.3 billion for weapon systems procurement and $140.5 billion for platform research, development and testing. The measure includes a $280 million increase in funding for F-135 spare engines and an additional $500 million for F-35 sustainment spare parts; an additional $216 million for drone and counter-drone tech capabilities; $4.6 billion more for air and missile defense efforts; and a
NASA wants to team up with industry to develop advanced space technologies for future commercial or government use. The space agency on Wednesday issued an announcement of collaboration opportunity, or ACO, to solicit partnership proposals. Managed by the Space Technology Mission Directorate, the ACO gives industry partners access to NASA subject matter expertise, facilities, software and hardware to accelerate and enhance capability development. According to NASA, the ACO will be open for five years and will serve as an umbrella opportunity for topic-specific appendices that would be released every six to 12 months to address evolving needs. For the 2025
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services, and other government and healthcare technology leaders have committed to delivering a patient-centric digital health ecosystem. At an event hosted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the White House, over 60 companies pledged to collaborate and deliver results that benefit the public in the first quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, 11 health systems and providers said they will support patient use. Seven electronic health record companies pledged to facilitate data exchange. According to Kennedy, bureaucrats and entrenched interests have made health data inaccessible to patients,