House leaders want to put the annual defense policy bill and other major legislation up for a vote this week, but they will have to navigate the fallout from last week’s damaging conservative rebellion to make it all happen.
Lawmakers plan to consider at least one Republican-drafted fiscal 2027 bill as well as the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act after a group of far-right members — emboldened by President Donald Trump — effectively shut down the House floor. Offshore wind could become a flashpoint in the NDAA debate.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) appeared to have hashed out a path forward with the president at the end of last week, and now the House will look to make up for lost time. The Senate, meanwhile, is in recess until mid-July.
“Congress has work to do, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Johnson said late last week after the president directed the bloc of conservatives holding up floor action to stop their “grandstanding.”
House leaders plan to consider the State-Foreign Operations spending bill but are apparently putting off the Energy-Water title until after recess because of time constraints. The fiscal 2027 NDAA may take days of floor time because of amendment votes — including related to the military’s clearinghouse process for making sure wind energy projects don’t interfere with defense needs.
Each of those steps could present opportunities for hard-line conservatives to thwart progress once again. Many of them are still angry about the Senate’s lack of action on an election security bill known as the SAVE America Act. Versions of that bill have passed the House multiple times, but the latest version does not have the votes to pass in the upper chamber.
“I personally think we should not have any more legislation until the Senate comes back in session, and they’re out for two weeks, ironically,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), one of the critics.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who helped lead last week’s revolt, indicated she would ease her resistance this week if House leaders grant a vote on her amendment to attach the SAVE America Act to the NDAA. The Rules Committee will meet Monday afternoon to decide which of the more than 1,300 proposed amendments can be considered on the floor.
If her amendment were to be adopted, it could tank the NDAA’s chances of passing before the end of the week, and the Senate would almost certainly reject it during bicameral negotiations later this year.
Wind, energy office amendments
The House NDAA already includes a host of energy and environment provisions, like language addressing high electricity costs at military bases, promoting nuclear energy and mineral supply chains.
A group of lawmakers — including Democrats Joe Courtney and Don Beyer and Republican Andrew Garbarino — are pushing amendments meant to accelerate the Pentagon’s work on reviewing wind energy permits. The industry has accused the administration of a blockade that threatens permitting reform talks in the Senate.
The Senate Armed Services Committee already approved an amendment with bipartisan support related to wind energy permitting to its version of the NDAA.
Separately, Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Ami Bera (D-Calif.) are looking to add their House-passed Developing Overseas Mineral Investments and New Allied Networks for Critical Energies (DOMINANCE) Act to the House NDAA. It would create a State Department Bureau of Energy Security and Diplomacy.
Several Democrats have filed amendments to scrutinize the energy and water consumption of data centers on military installations. A bipartisan amendment aims to support programs that increase grid security and resilience on bases.
Another bipartisan amendment would require the Pentagon to certify that new offshore oil and gas projects off the coasts of California and Florida will not adversely affect military operations before allowing the agency to use any funds for decisions related to those projects.
The Rules Committee already approved for floor consideration dozens of proposed amendments to the Energy-Water and State-Foreign Operations spending bills, many of which similarly address environment-related concerns.
“I think we have a really good chance of getting it passed on the floor,” Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Appropriations Energy-Water Subcommittee, said of his bill.
Some of the proposed amendments would shuffle around funding for the Department of Energy to better support various lawmaker priorities. Others would reduce funding for certain programs. Many are simply messaging proposals that would have no meaningful impact on funding levels or policy.
One amendment filed to the State-Foreign Operations bill would eliminate a contribution of nearly $140 million to the Global Environment Facility. The underlying bill would already block funding for a number of international climate initiatives.
“It’s a bunch of woke nonsense related to the Paris climate accords, and it’s all gibberish for discredited science, and it’s simply just not, in my opinion, worth borrowing money for,” said Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), one of the amendment’s sponsors.
Push for ‘Reconciliation 3.0’
House Republican leaders will also keep pushing this week to assemble a third filibuster-proof budget bill this Congress. So far they have failed to coalesce around a plan and convince the Senate to go along.
“Reconciliation 3.0” would be a successor to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the immigration enforcement bill Republicans passed earlier this month. It could include hundreds of billions of dollars for the Department of Defense, as well as provisions to generate a similar amount of new revenues as offsets.
House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) told reporters Thursday that his panel could potentially mark up a budget resolution as soon as this week to launch the process.
“The window is closing — I concede that — and the closer we get to November, the more difficult it is,” Arrington said. “But, I mean, we’re 80 percent of the way there, and I’m not ready to say that we can’t do it.”
House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) has indicated he is interested in seeing requirements for new oil and gas lease sales included in the bill. Republicans have also pitched some limited energy permitting provisions.
Johnson discussed the bill with Republicans on the House Budget Committee last week. Members left the meeting with little clarity about what kinds of provisions could make it into the legislation or if it could come together at all.
Asked whether there was discussion about including energy provisions, Texas Rep. Brandon Gill said that had not been decided. “Certainly could be a part of it,” Gill said, “but again, we don’t have any details right now.”
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
