DOD’s budget request finally drops, combining a real decrease with a one-time boost

The Pentagon rolled out its $848.3 billion fiscal year 2026 discretionary budget request on Thursday, a small real decline from last year’s enacted $831 billion budget—and only the largest chunk of the Trump administration’s plan to spend more than one trillion dollars on defense next year.The balance would come through a one-time, $113-billion infusion from Congress via the reconciliation bill currently in the Senate. The defense budget plus the reconciliation bill would bring