Van Orden Applauds Committee Passage of FY26 National Defense Authorization Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Navy SEAL veteran Congressman Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) released the following statement after voting to pass the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) out of the House Armed Services Committee: 

“Under the Biden administration, the world was a much more dangerous place due to sheer incompetence and mismanagement. The Department of Defense (DoD) had gone so far off mission it put our servicemembers, national security, allies, and every single American at grave risk. 

“With President Trump as our Commander-in-Chief and Secretary Hegseth leading the DoD, we are restoring readiness and lethality in our Armed Forces. Passage of this year’s NDAA is a critical step to delivering on President Trump’s promise of delivering Peace through Strength and ensuring our servicemembers have every tool and resource they need to meet any challenge and defend our interests at home and abroad.”

Rep. Van Orden championed multiple provisions in the FY26 NDAA:

• Inclusion of the Strengthening Our Servicemembers with Milk Act, which requires milk be available at dining facilities on military installations.
• Inclusion of the TAP Promotion Act to provide veterans with information on Veteran Service Organizations who assist with the transition into civilian life and help navigate benefits available to servicemembers and their families.
• Dental care coverage under TRICARE for reservists.
• Codifying the DoD authority for joint task forces to support law enforcement agencies and other federal agencies conducting counterterrorism and counter transnational organized crime activities.
• Codifying and expanding the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER) as a centralized database of servicemembers’ occupational and environmental exposure data.
• Prohibiting the use of DoD funds to promote or endorse CRT in military academies, servicemember training, or professional military education.
• Establishing formal contracting goals for DoD in contracting with small businesses owned and controlled by veterans.
• Requiring DoD to produce a briefing on the access levels and obstacles, and recommend improvements to ensure innovative companies can fully participate in national defense modernization.

Other priorities of Rep. Van Orden in the bill include:

Modernizing the Armed Forces:

• $10 million for robotic training targets to enhance National Guard lethality.
• $2.5 million for modernization and manufacturing of engines for traditional Collaborative Combat Aircraft platforms.

Enhancing Air Force Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking (SRT) Capabilities:

• Requiring use of commercial data analytics to provide the Air Force with tactical SRT capability to the combatant commands.
• Requiring the Air Force to establish the SRT commercial data analytics program as a program of record.

Elevating Defense Technology:

• Creating a pilot program to accelerate development and procurement of innovative technology and equipment to enhance operational capabilities of Special Forces.
• Requiring briefing on enhancing operational lethality through AI-enabled unmanned systems. 

Strengthening Cooperation Operations with Our Allies:

• Establishing an emerging technology cooperation program with Israel and other partner countries.
• Broadening the U.S.-Israel C-UAS cooperation to include unmanned systems in all domains and extends authority through 2028.

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