How a $901 billion plan changes US military policy

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The $901 billion defense-policy bill passed by the House would codify more than a dozen of President Trump’s executive orders, authorizing major weapons programs, troop deployments and international-security assistance. The Senate is expected to take it up in the week ahead.

The 3,086-page National Defense Authorization Act authorizes $8 billion more than what Trump requested in May and contains a 3.8% pay increase for troops. While the bill authorizes spending levels in defense accounts, actual appropriations must be passed separately by Congress. Here is what is in the bill: The legislation would withhold some Pentagon funds until Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth turns over unedited video footage of military strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

The move reflects growing bipartisan frustration with how little the administration has disclosed about its expanding campaign of boat strikes. The bill sets a floor for U.S. force levels in Europe of 76,000 troops and bars the Pentagon from cutting forces, closing facilities or moving equipment without consulting NATO allies and certifying that such moves are in the national interest.

It extends through 2029 the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, authorizing $400 million annually to buy weapons from U.S. defense companies. Congress would have to be informed if U.S.

intelligence provided to Ukraine is paused or scaled back. The bill extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which highlights military spending in Asia, and orders a military exercise testing the Pentagon’s readiness to effect a surge in troops and supplies in the event of a crisis with China. It calls for a review of how well the