Politics

The Defense Department plans to spend all of the money available through last year’s reconciliation bill in fiscal 2026, despite the funding being available for several years.

Burning through the entire $152 billion in a single fiscal year — even though Congress allocated the funding to be spent over the next five years — is a departure from the Trump administration’s own earlier plans.

The White House previously said it would spend approximately $113.3 billion in fiscal 2026, while putting the remaining reconciliation money toward various programs over the following several years.

But in a long-delayed report recently delivered to lawmakers, the Defense Department said it is “working to accelerate execution into fiscal 2026 if that can be done without sacrificing effectiveness.”