US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense hearing to examine the 2027 budget for the Department of Defense on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 12, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is planning to reroute roughly $4.3 billion from fiscal 2026 coffers in order to pay for “higher priority items,” including increased personnel and operational costs around the globe, the department told lawmakers in a new reprogramming notification.
In a 47-page omnibus reprogramming request dated June 29, Michael Powers — the acting Pentagon comptroller and chief financial officer — outlines an array of weapon and tech programs it wants to strip dollars from to pay for “unforeseen military requirements” which are “determined to be necessary in the national interests.”
A reprogramming is not a new budget request. Rather, it is asking Congress to allow the department to shift appropriated funding from one line item to a different line item — in this case, primarily towards personnel costs “required to support emergent mobilization and training requirements for critical operational missions that advance state and national priorities, and strengthen community safety, while sustaining high levels of readiness.”
