Congress Tells Pentagon $20.8B FY 2026 Shipbuilding Funding is Insufficient, ‘Highly Unusual’ HAC-D Bill Adds $16B for Ships

In two hearings on Tuesday, legislators in the House and Senate told Pentagon and Navy leadership the planned $20.8 billion budget for shipbuilding in the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 is insufficient, with the House defense appropriators proposing boosting the total to $36.9 billion in a draft spending bill.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called the funding for the Navy outlined in an appendix to the White House Office of Management and Budget’s so-called “skinny budget” for FY 2026 as overly reliant on shipbuilding money that was included in the reconciliation bill that is currently under consideration in the Senate.

“I am disturbed by the shipbuilding account, which plummeted to $20.8 billion from last year’s $37 billion,” Wicker said while chairing a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Navy budget.
“This shortfall reflects efforts to game the budget in anticipation of Congressional reconciliation funds, which were intended as supplemental, not a substitute.”

In his remarks, Wicker said the $20.8 billion proposal from OMB had no money for guided-missile destroyers, guided-missile frigates or Virginia-class attack submarines.

“This budget ignores this Congressional intent. Failing to include two destroyers in this year’s budget request destabilizes industry, shows bad faith, and slows our shipbuilding efforts,” he said. “Equally troubling is the omission of any Virginia-class submarine procurement. Here as well, the Navy is relying on the one boat proposed in reconciliation. This will upend the multi-year negotiations that presume nine boats over five years instead of eight. It jeopardizes industrial base recovery. Moreover, the Columbia-class program, critical for strategic deterrence, is underfunded by $4 billion.”

OMB has yet to release the full defense budget request and the backup materials known as justification books that detail the Pentagon’s planned expenditures. OMB director Russ Vought has held back specifics pending the passage of the reconciliation bill.

In a hearing last week before the House Appropriations Committee, OMB director Russ Vought told the the committee they had “all of the information that is needed to be able to write those bills,” according to Politico.

The House Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee released its own bill this week with a $36.9 billion shipbuilding total that includes:

• $5.27 billion for a Columbia-class nuclear ballistic submarine;
• $5.21 billion for Columbia class advanced procurement;
• $1.65 billion for the future aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80);
• $1.62 billion for the future aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller (CVN-81);
• $6.24 billion for a Virginia-class attack submarine;
• $5.16 billion for Virginia-class submarine advanced procurement;
• $1.82 billion for aircraft carrier refueling overhauls;
• $52.4 million for Zumwalt class DDG–1000 guided-missile destroyer Program;
• $5.07 billion Arleigh Burke-class DDG–51 guided-missile destroyer;
• $100 million Constellation-class FFG–Frigate program;
• $225 million for the McClung-class Medium Landing Ship program;
• $1.66 billion for the TAO Fleet Oiler program;
• $141.4 million for the Navajo-class Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ship;
• $424.1 million for a T–AGOS Surtass Ship;
• $48.2 million for the LCU 1700 program;
• $320 million for the Ship to Shore Connector;
• $210 million for Service Craft;
• $56.1 million for LCAC SLEP;
• $206 million for Auxiliary Vessels;
• $734 million for “For outfitting, post delivery conversions, and first destination transportation”;
• $700 million for cost to complete funds for prior shipbuilding programs;

The HAC-D bill was crafted largely without the input of the White House budget request, leaving defense procurement guided by the committee rather than the Pentagon.

“It’s hard for us to do our job without the J-books and detailed information,” Rep Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) told Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during a Tuesday budget hearing.

HAC-D issuing the bill before the full budget is “a highly unusual” move, Todd Harrison a defense spending expert with the American Enterprise Institute, told USNI News on Tuesday.

Typically, the administration submits their request and then the authorizing and the appropriating committees write their bills using the budget as a template.

“This year it’s going in reverse and the appropriators are writing their bills in the absence of a budget request from the administration,” Harrison said. “What it means is the administration has missed the opportunity to inform and influence the FY 26 budget. The process is moving on without them.”

During the Tuesday HAC-D hearing, Calvert asked Hegseth for help to get more information.

“We don’t have a luxury of time,” Calvert said. “You might talk to your friends at OMB — if OMB has any friends. I don’t know if they do, but go and see if they can get this going for us because it would be very helpful.”

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