"We're not going to get an NDAA bill done anytime soon," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said.
Sen. John Kennedy: NDAA unlikely, a continuing resolution more probable
Speaking on the sidelines of the Farnborough International Airshow, Sen. John Kennedy warned reporters that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is unlikely to be passed in the near term. He added that he expects a continuing resolution (CR) to hold funding at current-year levels: "I hope we'll have a CR to continue the budget, but after that, I really don't know," he said. Kennedy later reiterated confidence that "We'll get the NDAA done," but his remarks underscored a belief among some lawmakers that immediate passage is unlikely.
Reconciliation: the Trump administration's budget maneuver and the political debate
The administration has proposed using reconciliation — a budget process that permits passage by simple majority — to advance major portions of its defense request. The office initially tied roughly $350 billion of an initial $1.5 trillion defense budget request to reconciliation, covering priorities such as munitions, shipbuilding, and autonomous-warfare efforts. Congress has since reduced that reconciliation component to about $60 billion, largely to support the war in Iran.
Kennedy acknowledged the tension: "There's a concern that if you start doing defense and reconciliation, it can create a bad habit, and I get all of that. But the military needs money, and the only way to get it to them in this environment is through reconciliation." Democrats, represented at Farnborough by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., pushed back. Shaheen said she and others view reconciliation as a dangerous precedent and argued such priorities "should go in the base budget" — adding bluntly, "There isn’t going to be a third reconciliation package, so anything that's in there is not going anywhere."
Golden Dome: a large missile-defense program with fragile funding
One of the most contested items is the Golden Dome missile defense program. The Pentagon is seeking $17.5 billion for the program; only $400 million of that request comes from the baseline budget, with the remainder planned to be funded through reconciliation. Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., described the program as "needed" but voiced concern about its reliance on reconciliation: "I'm worried it's in reconciliation, because I don't know if that's going to happen or not."
Sen. Kennedy cautioned on timing and cost: "It's going to be expensive," he said of Golden Dome. "Will we get it done in this Congress? I wouldn't bet my house on it. And if I were betting your house on it, it'd be a maybe." Defense budget analyst Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute suggested there are alternatives if reconciliation fails: "I think this is one of the priority items in reconciliation [that] they will find a way to work into a funding bill," he said. "If not this one, then the base budget or something else."
Farnborough context: lawmakers, the Pentagon, and transatlantic pressure
The comments came during a bipartisan congressional delegation’s visit to the Farnborough International Airshow, Europe’s largest airshow, where U.S. political divisions over defense spending intersected with broader diplomatic messaging. The source described political infighting over the defense budget occurring as President Donald Trump has pushed European countries to provide for their own defense and to buy American weapons. That diplomatic push, paired with the budget gridlock in Washington, frames why the administration is pursuing reconciliation for key defense investments.
How lawmakers, the military, and defense planners are positioned
- Lawmakers: Some Republicans, like Kennedy and Fischer, express willingness to use reconciliation to meet immediate military needs but worry about precedent and the likelihood of success; Democrats, represented by Sen. Shaheen, reject reconciliation as an appropriate vehicle for baseline defense priorities.
- The military and the Pentagon: According to lawmakers at Farnborough, the military "needs money," and the department's largest requests — including munitions, shipbuilding, autonomous-warfare efforts, and Golden Dome — depend in part on reconciliation or alternative budget paths.
- Defense budget analysts and planners: Observers such as Todd Harrison see practical routes to secure priority items, either by fitting them into later funding bills or the baseline budget if reconciliation does not deliver the requested sums.
The debate at Farnborough crystallized a narrow, tangible question: with only $400 million of Golden Dome in the base budget and tens of billions planned under reconciliation, will Congress find the political path to fund the administration’s largest defense priorities before a CR or another stopgap takes hold? Lawmakers there offered no definitive answer.
