Senator Lisa Murkowski is pushing back on talk inside the Trump administration about using another budget reconciliation bill to expand defense funding, arguing that long-term Pentagon spending should be handled through the normal appropriations process.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the Alaska Republican said, “A reconciliation bill is not how we ensure defense spending going forward. That’s what we do in appropriations.”
Why It Matters
Reconciliation is a fast-track budget tool that lets the Senate pass certain fiscal measures with a simple majority, bypassing the usual 60-vote threshold. In today’s closely divided Senate, reaching 60 votes would typically require Republicans to bring along several Democrats.
Lawmakers earlier used reconciliation to pass a one-time defense increase of more than $150 billion. But reconciliation is generally designed for mandatory spending and revenue changes—not the annual Pentagon budget, which is typically set through appropriations and yearly Defense Department funding bills.
What To Know
Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the previous reconciliation package that boosted defense spending was “only just the beginning,” suggesting future increases could also be pursued through reconciliation.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought also said the White House is open to considering a second reconciliation bill this year to advance additional defense funding.
Vought praised the earlier reconciliation approach, saying it helped fund priorities such as “Golden Dome,” shipbuilding, and nuclear modernization by placing them into a mandatory funding stream that, in his view, offers more stability than annual appropriations.
He also argued that the 60-vote hurdle has historically encouraged trade-offs that raise non-defense spending alongside defense increases, making fiscal restraint harder to achieve.
However, Murkowski is not alone in resisting the strategy. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Punchbowl News, “I would prefer to use the regular appropriations process.”
House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Ken Calvert also warned that passing another reconciliation bill would be difficult, telling Punchbowl News, “It was hard last time. It’ll be harder next time. And they don’t have all the little sugar that goes on the side.”
The earlier reconciliation defense package drew criticism from some Republicans as well, including Senator Mitch McConnell.
The U.S. national defense budget totaled more than $890 billion in 2025, the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported.
What People Are Saying
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday: “[The military] will not be distracted by democracy building, interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, climate change, woke moralizing and feckless nation building.”
The November National Security Strategy states: “We want the world’s most robust, credible, and modern nuclear deterrent, plus next-generation missile defenses—including a Golden Dome for the American homeland—to protect the American people, American assets overseas, and American allies…We want the world’s most robust industrial base. American national power depends on a strong industrial sector capable of meeting both peacetime and wartime production demands. That requires not only direct defense industrial production capacity but also defense-related production capacity. Cultivating American industrial strength must become the highest priority of national economic policy.”
The House Armed Services Committee Republicans said in an X post on Wednesday: “We’re proud of the work we’re doing to carry out President Trump’s Peace through Strength agenda in the FY26 NDAA. Together, we’re cutting red tape, strengthening American deterrence, and increasing support for our servicemembers. We’re looking forward to having him sign this into law so we can deliver on his promise to build the most ready, capable, and lethal fighting force in the world.”
Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, told Punchbowl News: “What goes around comes around and, frankly, it would be destructive of one of the few remaining bipartisan issues.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, said in a December 8 X post: “This week we are voting on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that funds our military and it’s, once again, filled with American’s hard earned tax dollars used to fund foreign aid and foreign country’s wars. These American People are $38 Trillion in debt, suffering from an affordability crisis, on the verge of a healthcare crisis, and credit card debt is at an all time high.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said when the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was released: “This year’s National Defense Authorization Act helps advance President Trump and Republicans’ Peace Through Strength Agenda by codifying 15 of President Trump’s executive orders, ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos.”
What Happens Next
The House is expected to vote on the NDAA on Wednesday.
