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Congressional Democrats are preparing to block President Donald Trump's request for a $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2027, the largest military budget request in American history, after winning majorities in both the House and the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections. Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said Democrats will reject the request and push for a budget below $1 trillion.
"We must push for the development of a more realistic and sustainable approach to our national security — one that does not require a defense budget in excess of $1 trillion or one paid for with draconian cuts to critical domestic programs," Smith said in a statement after the election. Smith, who is in line to chair the Armed Services Committee when Democrats take the House in January, also promised vigorous oversight of Pentagon spending and the war in Iran.
The numbers behind the fight: the House and Senate versions of the annual defense authorization bill each stand at about $1.15 trillion, and the defense appropriations bill at about $1.07 trillion. The Trump administration asked for $1.5 trillion in total — roughly 44 percent more than the previous fiscal year — and Republicans had planned to supply the remaining $350 billion through a budget reconciliation bill that needs only a simple majority in the Senate.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has been blunt about the party's position for months. In April he called Trump's budget "rotten to the core" and said "Democrats will make sure it never passes," adding: "Democrats will fight this budget tooth and nail to ensure it never becomes law." After the midterm win, Schumer demanded an end to the Iran war, and Democrats have said they will not fund what Representative Rosa DeLauro called "Trump's war of choice with Iran."
What happens next: Republicans have about eight weeks of lame-duck session to finish the defense bills before Democrats take power in January. Federal funding runs out on December 11 under the current stopgap, raising the prospect of another shutdown fight before Christmas. If the bills are not finished, funding could simply be extended at current levels — and Democrats could then block the extra $350 billion altogether. One limit on the Democrats: even with both chambers, they will not hold the two-thirds majorities needed to override a presidential veto.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that not funding the department at $1.5 trillion is "the greatest threat that our nation faces," setting up the budget as the first big test of the new Democratic majority's power.