Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink and Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman testified June 9 in front of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. Credit: SAC livestream
WASHINGTON — House defense appropriators unveiled a $1.07 trillion fiscal 2027 spending bill that would provide $55.5 billion for the U.S. Space Force, and does not include billions of dollars in additional defense funding that the Trump administration is seeking through a separate budget reconciliation package.
The draft legislation, released by the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee ahead of a June 11 markup, funds the Pentagon at the level requested by the administration through the regular appropriations process. However, it excludes roughly $350 billion in additional defense spending that administration officials have proposed funding through reconciliation, a fast-track budget process that allows certain fiscal legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority vote.
The message from appropriators is that they are building the fiscal 2027 defense budget around funding streams that have a more certain legislative path.
Prospects for another reconciliation bill have come under increasing scrutiny on Capitol Hill.
