Senate Passed S 1071 – FY 2026 NDAA

Yesterday, the last day of business in 2025, finished their consideration of S 1071, the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill passed by a bipartisan vote of  77 to 20. While there had been concerns about some Republicans supporting the bill, in the final vote Democrats outnumbered GOP no votes 18 to 2. This evening the President signed the bill into law.

Reader Comments – S 1071 Whistleblower

Yesterday I approved publication of four comments to my initial post about S 1071, the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. All four comments come from the psunominous DAVE, who claims to be The Whistleblower about the bill. I am not sure which provisions in the bill DAVE is blowing about, but the comments meet the loose rules that I have for moderating comments; nothing abusive and no naked spam. I have not followed up on any of DAVE’s comments, and my posting of them to the blog does not indicate support for the content or belief in the claims.

Having said all of that…. One of the problems with sausage bills like S 1071 is that with over 3,000 pages of bill that was crafted behind closed doors, and with little time for detailed review, and effectively no public debate, all sorts of interesting tidbits have a tendency to get added to the bill (see for example this article at TheHill.com) to encourage support from key members of Congress. And I am sure that there are more disclosures to come.

The problem is compounded by the fact that Congress is nearly evenly divided and has become so hyperpolitical that it consumes the available time counting political coup (House) and approving fringe political appointees (Senate), that serious law making is for the most part no longer being accomplished. So, when legislative sausage is made, all sorts of odd stuff gets thrown into the grinder.

Perhaps it is time to look at Robert Heinlein’s suggestion for a bicameral legislature made in his book “Moon is a Harsh Mistress”. One of his revolutionaries proposed a legislature where one house passed bills by a supermajority and the other repealed legislation by a simple majority. Obviously that government would be in constant turmoil, but that was the point; that turmoil would limit the capacity for oppression.

S 1071 Passed in House – FY 2026 NDAA

This afternoon the House took up S 1071, the vehicle for the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. After a little more than an hour of debate, and a motion to recommit (which failed), the House voted 312 to 112 to pass the amended bill. There was a bit of political theatrics earlier in the day when H Res 936, the rule for the consideration of S 1071 (and five other bills) was being considered. The vote was kept open for an hour and 22 minutes, while the Republican leadership twisted arm to get five Republicans to change their Nays to Yeas, passing the Resolution by a vote of 215 to 211.

The bill now goes back to the Senate where there should be sufficient votes to pass the bill once it comes to a vote. There will be roadblocks, snags, and delays, but the bill will eventually pass.

Review – S 1071 and Cybersecurity – FY 2026 NDAA

Yesterday the House Rules Committee completed the Rule that includes the consideration of S 1071, the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The resolution approving that rule will be voted on today, and the bill will probably be considered on Thursday. The 3,083-page text of the bill contains 367 separate mentions of the word ‘cyber’, a few too many to do a reasonable assessment here. The picture is better for the term ‘cybersecurity’, there are only 86 mentions, but still too many for a short form analysis like this.

A more reasonable way to look at cybersecurity in a bill of this size is to look at the individual sections that deal with cybersecurity issues. That is much easier, as there are just eight such sections:

§ 866. Cybersecurity regulatory harmonization.

§ 1067. Cybersecurity and resilience annex in Strategic Rail Corridor Network assessments.

§ 1511. Secure mobile phones for senior officials and personnel performing sensitive functions.

§ 1512. Artificial intelligence and machine learning security in the Department of Defense.

§ 1513. Physical and cybersecurity procurement requirements for artificial intelligence systems.

§ 1514. Collaborative cybersecurity educational program.

§ 1515. Incorporation of artificial intelligence considerations into cybersecurity training.

§ 8339. Supporting cybersecurity and cyber resilience in the Western Balkans. (State Dept)

The five § 15XX sections are all within TITLE XV, Cyberspace-Related Matters. These deal with almost entirely military matters, and three of them specifically deal with artificial intelligence issues related to cybersecurity which I currently consider beyond the scope of this blog. I am also going to ignore the section dealing with secure telephones, with the caveat that anyone that uses a cell phone should peruse the section, just to see what types of things that security folks worry about with these ubiquitous devices. Finally, the State Department requirement to support cybersecurity in the Western Balkans is of little specific interest here. So that leaves three sections of potential interest here.

 

For more information on the cybersecurity provisions in this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-1071-and-cybersecurity-fy-2026 - subscription required.

Review – Committee Hearings – Week of 12-7-25

With both the House and Senate in Washington this week, there is a relatively light hearing schedule. The House Rules Committee will meet to formulate the rule for the consideration of S 1071, the vehicle for the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate will see a committee vote on the NASA Administrator nomination. And there will be a House hearing on threats to the Homeland. In addition to the floor consideration of S 1071, there will be two other bills of tangential interest here that will be considered in the House.

Nomination Votes

Today the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a business meeting to vote on eight separate nominations. Three nominations are of potential interest here:

• Jared Isaacman, to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• Richard Kloster, to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board

• Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, to be Commandant of the United States Coast Guard

Threats to the Homeland

On Thursday, the House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland”.

On the Floor

S 1071 has not yet made it to the House weekly schedule, but it will almost certainly come to the floor this week. Two other bills of potential interest here (though not specifically covered in this blog) are scheduled to be considered under a rule this week:

 

HR 3638 – Electric Supply Chain Act, and

HR 3668 – Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act

 

For more information on these hearings, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/committee-hearings-week-of-12-7-25 - subscription required.