Review – HR 4016 Introduced – FY 2026 DOD Spending

Last week Rep Calvert (R,CA) introduced HR 4016, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026. The House Appropriations Committee published their Report on the bill. In addition to setting spending for DOD, the bill includes two minor cyber related mentions as well as a brief chemical weapons destruction entry. There are three cybersecurity discussions in the Report. The bill passed in Committee on a party-line vote.

Moving Forward

In recent years spending bills have been a pro forma statement of policy by the ruling party as continuing resolutions and year-end deals have become the funding mechanisms de jure. The problem has been exacerbated since the Republicans came back into control of the House in that they have had problems even passing bills in the House because of intraparty conflicts.

This year may be different, at least for this bill. With the attacks on Iran last night, we might see a stronger push to support the Pentagon in its ongoing war role. This bill passed in Committee on a party-line vote, and I would expect it to receive similar support on the floor of the House. The Senate has not yet started crafting spending bills, so it is too early to tell how far apart the two houses of congress are. In any case the 60-vote Senate is unlikely to pass this bill as it stands, but there is still plenty of time between now and September 30^th to work out reasonable differences. The unreasonable differences could still remain a problem.

 

For more details about the cybersecurity and chemical safety issues see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-4016-introduced-fy-2026-dod-spending - subscription required.