Case voices opposition to proposed annual defense funding measure

US Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the House Appropriations Committee and of its Subcommittee on Defense, voted in Committee against the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Defense Appropriations bill on Thursday.

The FY 2026 Defense bill proposes to spend $831.5 billion, an amount equal to the FY 2025 enacted level, for federal agencies and programs in the Department of Defense and intelligence community, including the military branches of services, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Case’s Subcommittee on Defense is responsible for developing the bill.

“The Committee also was forced to draft the bill in the dark because the administration failed to provide a detailed budget request, and that is a dangerous precedent to support,” he said.

Case spoke in Committee in favor of continued support for Ukraine. He stressed that despite the tragic consequences of President Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified war, “you cannot fail to do something that is hard, when you know that if you don’t do it, it will be harder in the future.”

Case also spoke in Committee on the proposal’s lack of a coordinated whole-of-government national defense strategy, which would include soft power tools like international assistance and trade. He called for a broader understanding of national security that looks beyond the narrow confines of military spending, including in the Indo-Pacific.

He explained that “only a strong national defense, coordinated and delivered over time, will achieve the foundational necessity of all else.”

Case also offered an amendment, which was accepted by the Committee, to prevent the transmission of classified information or war plans over unsecured networks. His amendment is a direct response to high-level Trump administration officials who used Signal to discuss US military plans to attack Houthi groups in Yemen.

Case said: “There are clear federal rules… that prohibit handling classified material outside of approved, encrypted and monitored systems… The rules around are not just suggestions, they are mandates.”

Despite his significant problems with the bill, Case highlighted programs and provisions he requested and secured that are especially critical to Hawai‘i, including:

• $30 million to continue efforts to replace O‘ahu’s outdated air surveillance radar, which is needed to defend Hawai‘i from missile attacks.
• Directing the Navy to support a program to control and eradicate invasive coral at naval installations, which is in response to the invasive coral found at the mouth of Pearl Harbor.
• Protecting the special contracting preference for Native Hawaiian businesses.
• $357 million for the Navy’s Environmental Restoration program plus an additional $235 million for the cleanup of Formerly Used Defense Sites. These funds will help accelerate efforts to remediate per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) contamination and remove unexploded ordnance and discarded military munitions in Hawai‘i and throughout the nation.
• Funding for two Virginia-class fast attack submarines, which are critical to protecting the Indo-Pacific and will be maintained at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.
• $186 million for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which maintains critical scientific laboratories at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
• $177 million for the Sea-Based X-Band Radar, which will help defend Hawai‘i from ballistic missile threats.
• Over $421 million for “Civil-Military Programs,” which will support Hawaii’s Youth Challenge Academy.
• Over $70 million for Impact Aid programs, which help Hawaii’s public schools by partially reimbursing the cost of educating military children.
• Blocked efforts to change the command and control structure of the US Pacific Fleet. There have been efforts within the department to streamline control of forces under one command structure, which would limit the ability of Navy forces in Hawai‘i to respond quickly to changing threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

Other programs and provisions in the measure also requested and supported by Case and especially critical to the broader Indo-Pacific include:

• $8 million for the Asia Regional Pacific Initiative (ARPI) managed by US Indo-Pacific Command. ARPI supports a wide range of exercises, humanitarian assistance, programs and training symposiums that help expand U.S. influence in the Indo-Pacific. The initiative is an important tool for the U.S. military to strengthen relationships throughout the Indo Pacific region.
• Continued support for providing humanitarian and other assistance by US military Civic Action Teams in the Freely Associated States.
• $6 million to expand the National Disaster Medical System Pilot Program to provide critical support to military and civilian health objectives. It will help advance national medical innovation, preparedness, disaster response and integration efforts to underserved regions, such as the Indo-Pacific.
• $75 million for decoupling rare earth magnet manufacturing from China.

General military-related programs and provisions supported by Case related to the DoD overall include:

• 3.8% basic pay increase for all military personnel.
• $700 million for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP). The CDMRP fills research gaps by funding high impact, high risk and high gain projects that other agencies may not venture to fund.

This measure is one of the twelve bills developed by the House Appropriations Committee that will collectively fund the federal government for FY 2026 (commencing Oct. 1, 2025). The bill now moves on to the full House of Representatives for its consideration.

A summary of the defense funding bill is available here.