National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

What this does

This is the annual defense authorization act for fiscal year 2027, setting policy and authorizing funding levels for the Defense Department, military construction, and the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons programs. It runs 1,253 sections across five divisions and is far too large to lay out provision by provision, so this covers the major components; specific dollar figures for individual programs sit in Division D's funding tables, incorporated section by section. Division A authorizes active duty end strength for fiscal year 2027 at 469,000 for the Army, 356,600 for the Navy, 173,700 for the Marine Corps, 330,400 for the Air Force, and 13,200 for the Space Force. It also creates the Military Chaplains Modernization Act of 2026, adding new protections and duties for chaplains under Title 10, and directs the Defense Department to give preference to domestically sourced uranium and other critical minerals over foreign suppliers. Division B, the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027, authorizes specific military construction and family housing projects, including $918,000,000 at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, and $380,000,000 at Wheeler Army Air Field, Hawaii. Division C authorizes appropriations to the Department of Energy for the National Nuclear Security Administration's nuclear weapons and nonproliferation programs for fiscal year 2027. Division E, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also called the SAVE America Act, rewrites federal election law nationwide, the same rider Congress attached to the fiscal year 2027 State Department appropriations act one week earlier. It requires anyone registering to vote in a federal election to present documentary proof of United States citizenship, with an attestation based fallback for applicants who cannot produce a document, and separately requires a photo identification to cast a ballot in a federal election, in person or by mail. States must submit voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE system to identify and remove noncitizens after notice, and the act creates new federal crimes for registering an applicant without proof of citizenship or materially assisting a noncitizen to register or vote. Absent uniformed services voters are exempt from both requirements, which take effect on enactment.