Stalin
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The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), authorizing $901 billion in military spending—the largest Pentagon spending bill in US history.
The legislation, which is expected to pass the Senate next week, received overwhelming bipartisan support, with Democratic Party leaders voting in favor, as President Donald Trump threatens to launch a major new war in Latin America.
The vote was 312-112, with 115 Democrats joining 197 Republicans to pass the act. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California all cast “Yea” votes.
Combined with the $156 billion in supplemental military funding included in the reconciliation bill signed in July, the NDAA pushes total military spending for fiscal year 2026 to over $1 trillion—a new record in absolute terms and a level relative to GDP unseen since World War II.
The bill massively expands US nuclear weapons programs, shipbuilding and aircraft procurement in preparation for what the Pentagon openly describes as great-power conflict with China. According to the House Armed Services Committee summary, the United States is now “operating in the most dangerous threat environment since World War II” and faces “an axis of aggressors comprised of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.”
The NDAA allocates $34 billion for nuclear weapons programs, continuing a sweeping nuclear buildup that began under the Obama administration and has accelerated under every subsequent president. In 2016, Obama announced a plan to spend $1 trillion over 30 years to replace all three legs of the nuclear triad—land-based missiles, submarine-launched missiles and strategic bombers. That figure has since ballooned to an estimated $1.5 trillion.
The first Trump administration withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, freeing the US to develop a new generation of nuclear-capable missiles. The Biden administration continued this trajectory, and the current Trump administration is now accelerating it further.
This year’s NDAA funds development of the Sentinel ICBM to replace Minuteman III, a new nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile and a third Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. The legislation also prohibits the Pentagon from reducing the nation’s ICBM fleet below 400 missiles—mandating that the US maintain launch-ready nuclear weapons capable of destroying human civilization multiple times over.
Another $13 billion goes to the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, with $2.6 billion more for hypersonic weapons capable of striking targets at over five times the speed of sound.
The bill authorizes $26 billion for shipbuilding, focused on expanding the nuclear submarine fleet. A single Columbia-class submarine costs approximately $9 billion; Virginia-class attack submarines cost over $3 billion each. The NDAA also funds expansion of private nuclear shipyard capacity, signaling a long-term commitment to naval buildup.
Aircraft procurement receives over $38 billion. The bill funds 69 F-35 stealth fighters at a cost of roughly $123 million per plane, totaling $8.5 billion. Billions more go toward next-generation sixth-generation fighters, the B-21 Raider strategic bomber and aerial refueling tankers to project US power globally.
A New York Times editorial published this week declared that the US must not be “overmatched” by adversaries and supported a major expansion of military capabilities. Citing a classified Pentagon assessment called the “Overmatch brief,” the Times reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last November that in war games against China, “we lose every time.”
“The picture it paints is consistent and disturbing,” the Times wrote. It added that “in the short term, the transformation of the American military may require additional spending, primarily to rebuild our industrial base
comrade stalin
moscow
The legislation, which is expected to pass the Senate next week, received overwhelming bipartisan support, with Democratic Party leaders voting in favor, as President Donald Trump threatens to launch a major new war in Latin America.
The vote was 312-112, with 115 Democrats joining 197 Republicans to pass the act. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California all cast “Yea” votes.
Combined with the $156 billion in supplemental military funding included in the reconciliation bill signed in July, the NDAA pushes total military spending for fiscal year 2026 to over $1 trillion—a new record in absolute terms and a level relative to GDP unseen since World War II.
The bill massively expands US nuclear weapons programs, shipbuilding and aircraft procurement in preparation for what the Pentagon openly describes as great-power conflict with China. According to the House Armed Services Committee summary, the United States is now “operating in the most dangerous threat environment since World War II” and faces “an axis of aggressors comprised of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.”
The NDAA allocates $34 billion for nuclear weapons programs, continuing a sweeping nuclear buildup that began under the Obama administration and has accelerated under every subsequent president. In 2016, Obama announced a plan to spend $1 trillion over 30 years to replace all three legs of the nuclear triad—land-based missiles, submarine-launched missiles and strategic bombers. That figure has since ballooned to an estimated $1.5 trillion.
The first Trump administration withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, freeing the US to develop a new generation of nuclear-capable missiles. The Biden administration continued this trajectory, and the current Trump administration is now accelerating it further.
This year’s NDAA funds development of the Sentinel ICBM to replace Minuteman III, a new nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile and a third Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. The legislation also prohibits the Pentagon from reducing the nation’s ICBM fleet below 400 missiles—mandating that the US maintain launch-ready nuclear weapons capable of destroying human civilization multiple times over.
Another $13 billion goes to the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, with $2.6 billion more for hypersonic weapons capable of striking targets at over five times the speed of sound.
The bill authorizes $26 billion for shipbuilding, focused on expanding the nuclear submarine fleet. A single Columbia-class submarine costs approximately $9 billion; Virginia-class attack submarines cost over $3 billion each. The NDAA also funds expansion of private nuclear shipyard capacity, signaling a long-term commitment to naval buildup.
Aircraft procurement receives over $38 billion. The bill funds 69 F-35 stealth fighters at a cost of roughly $123 million per plane, totaling $8.5 billion. Billions more go toward next-generation sixth-generation fighters, the B-21 Raider strategic bomber and aerial refueling tankers to project US power globally.
A New York Times editorial published this week declared that the US must not be “overmatched” by adversaries and supported a major expansion of military capabilities. Citing a classified Pentagon assessment called the “Overmatch brief,” the Times reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last November that in war games against China, “we lose every time.”
“The picture it paints is consistent and disturbing,” the Times wrote. It added that “in the short term, the transformation of the American military may require additional spending, primarily to rebuild our industrial base
Democrats join Republicans to grant Trump $1 trillion in military spending for 2026
Democratic Party leaders voted for the record Pentagon spending bill, as the Trump administration deploys F-35s and electronic warfare jets to the Caribbean in preparation for war against Venezuela.
www.wsws.org
comrade stalin
moscow
