Congress added nearly $34 billion above the president’s fiscal 2026 defense request for more than 1,000 research and procurement programs favored by lawmakers but not necessarily by the military, according to a new report.
The $33.97 billion in a fiscal 2026 omnibus spending law is a dramatic surge in appropriations for what are known as program increases in the defense budget, according to the report and database, which are due out Thursday from Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that monitors federal spending.
By comparison, the fiscal 2024 and 2025 totals for such programs were lower — at $21 billion and $14.95 billion, respectively.
