Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress has explicit constitutional authority under Article I, Section 8, Clauses 12-16 to raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, and make rules for the regulation of military forces. Funding the Department of Defense for military activities also serves the common defense under the spending power in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. This bill is a straightforward exercise of that authority.

Bill of Rights · passes

The bill as summarized simply appropriates funds to the Department of Defense and related agencies. It does not regulate speech, religion, press, assembly, or petition; it does not restrict arms; it does not authorize quartering soldiers; it does not authorize searches or seizures; it does not implicate criminal process, juries, or cruel punishment. No provision of the first ten amendments is infringed.

Individual liberty · passes

The bill does not restrict what any person may do with their own person, property, speech, labor, or belief. It directs government expenditure toward military activities. There is no government-imposed restriction on individual freedom in the bill's summarized content.

Decentralization · passes

National defense is a core federal responsibility. Individuals, local communities, and states cannot independently provide for the common defense without federal coordination and constitutional authority. The Constitution expressly delegates military powers to Congress and prohibits states from maintaining standing forces without federal consent. This bill does not consolidate decision-making upward beyond the minimum necessary; it operates at the appropriate national level.

Due process and takings · passes

The bill does not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process, nor does it take private property for public use without just compensation. It authorizes appropriations rather than direct coercive legal action against individuals. The procedural and substantive due process requirements of the Fifth Amendment are not implicated by the bill's summarized provisions.