Ranking Member McCollum Statement at the Subcommittee Markup of the 2026 Defense Funding Bill

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN-04), Ranking Member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the subcommittee markup of the 2026 Defense funding bill:

– As Prepared for Delivery –

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It disappoints me that I am unable to support this bill as written, today. But I am hopeful that we will have an opportunity to do better as this process moves forward.

The Defense Appropriations Act is this Committee’s largest discretionary funding bill. It is an incredibly complex piece of legislation - and it deals with a wide range of national security issues. The construction of ships and submarines to build a modern navy, the launch of technologically advanced satellites, the development of hypersonic weapons; innovative and transformative biomedical research; and most importantly - supporting our servicemembers and their families who so bravely serve our nation.

It is in the best interests of our nation for the Defense bill to be written the right way – with thoughtful analysis. Now, for many of the other Subcommittees, writing a new appropriations bill using the prior year’s enacted bill is normal. They are used to using the previous year’s program levels as a basis to build a new bill. And so, while Congress’ expectation should always be that we see the President’s Budget Request in a timely manner,  it is easier for other Subcommittees to move forward to markup without seeing the new budget request.

But the Defense bill is not one of those bills. The nation’s defense programs require a detailed annual review. In particular, the budgets for the Procurement programs and the Research and Development efforts required to support them – naturally ebb and flow. And each year we must review these 5-year funding profiles so that we can answer the questions that are fundamental to our Subcommittee’s jurisdiction.

We have to know: what we are buying and why, what we aren’t buying and why, and what phase research and development efforts are at. So to do this, we first must see the President’s plan. He proposes, we dispose – that’s the way our system works. There are consequences to not following this process. We may end up buying too many of one platform, wasting precious taxpayer dollars. We may end up buying too little of another – leaving a gap in our defense capabilities. When we do not see the budget request, we fail to maximize the buying power for the taxpayer. So, it is deeply unfortunate that the Trump administration, and OMB in particular, has put the Committee in this position.

Having served as Chair of this Subcommittee myself, I know how hard the staff works to analyze the budget request and put this bill together. We all know this is not how they want to do their jobs. And I want to thank the staff on both sides for doing the best they can under extremely tough circumstances.

I also appreciate the desire to move the bills through Committee in a timely manner before the August recess. We all know that the Fiscal Year 2025 full year Continuing Resolution was a disaster – particularly for the Department of Defense. And it was a shame that President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and Republican leadership in the House endorsed that strategy.

Congress must get our work done – on time. But you can only work with the information that you have in front of you. And the Trump administration has failed to get us the information we need in time to produce a complete product. 

As I said Mr. Chairman, I cannot support the bill as written. But I look forward to working with you to improve the bill as it goes through the process here today, in full committee, on the floor, and in conference.  

I yield back. 

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