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$1T Defense Budget Aims To Rebuild and Empower U.S. Military

The budget requests a 13.4% increase from fiscal year 2025’s enacted levels.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the U.S. Department of Defense budget request for fiscal year 2026 and the Future Years Defense Program at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., June 18, 2025. Credit: DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth emphasized the need for increased readiness, capability and fighting spirit to strengthen U.S. defense in his testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services on June 18, while requesting the fiscal year (FY) 2026 U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) budget.

President Donald Trump’s FY 2026 defense budget requests $1.01 trillion, which is a 13.4% increase from FY 2025’s enacted levels, according to the June 26 background briefing. The DOD’s portion of that total is $961.6 billion, which includes $848.3 billion for the discretionary budget and $113.3 billion in mandatory funding through congressional reconciliation.

According to a senior defense official and senior military official who spoke during the briefing, the budget includes $113 billion in mandatory reconciliation funding, $25 billion for Golden Dome, $5 billion in funding for southern border operations and $60 billion for nuclear enterprise, which are some of the department’s top priorities.

"This historic defense budget prioritizes strengthening homeland security, deterring Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific [region], revitalizing the defense industrial base and maintaining our commitment to being good stewards of taxpayer dollars," a senior defense official told reporters.

From the $961.6 billion total for the DOD, $197.4 billion is meant for the Army, $292.2 billion for the Navy, $301.1 billion for the Air Force and $170.9 for defense wide. The budget also includes $40 billion for the U.S. Space Force, which is more than a 30% increase from FY 2025.

For military readiness and training, the budget requests $160 billion, including a 3.8% military pay raise and $5 billion for unaccompanied housing for service members.

“My first priority is to restore the warrior ethos and restore trust in our military, both of which were casualties of the last four years, as demonstrated by historically low recruitment numbers across the Departments of the Army, Navy and Air Force,” Hegseth said in his testimony.

Strengthening the U.S. nuclear enterprise and constructing the Golden Dome is a large focus for the DOD moving forward after the Defense Intelligence Agency released its assessment on growing missile threats. To stay ahead of the threats, the budget invests $3.9 billion in hypersonic weapons and $6.5 billion in conventional and hypersonic munitions.

“DOD Acquisition and Sustainment is working with the Missile Defense Agency and the military services to address supply chain challenges and begin the work necessary to construct the Golden Dome,” Hegseth said. “This project will include developing cutting-edge domain awareness systems, kinetic and non-kinetic missile defeat capabilities and advanced command, control and battle management systems to integrate and augment existing U.S. missile defense capabilities.”

Additionally, the budget requests $15.1 billion for cybersecurity, recognizing the growing adversarial cyber threats. Hegseth said the goal is to strengthen U.S. defense capabilities through enhanced threat detection, incident response and vulnerability management.”

“Investing in advanced technologies like AI-powered security tools and zero trust is crucial,” Hegseth said in his testimony. “We also aim to deter malicious actors by imposing costs and consequences for cyber attacks. This includes working with international partners to uphold norms of responsible behavior in cyberspace and holding attackers accountable.”

As for reductions in the defense budget, the DOD is canceling its E-7 Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft program due to “survivability concerns in a contested environment.” The budget also recommends reducing the number of F-35 Lightning II strike fighters from 74 to 47 aircraft. However, roughly $1 billion will be allocated for F-35 spare parts to address sustainment and readiness challenges.

As part of rebuilding the military, the budget allocates $3.5 billion for building the F-47, the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet, and $5.9 billion for shipbuilding to compete with China’s growing fleets.

“We have the opportunity to create a new golden age of national defense. The threats we face are significant and rising,” Hegseth testified. “Communist China is on the rise and is preparing for conflict. But conflict is not inevitable, and let me stress once again that our goal is to prevent war through increasing U.S. strength."