Summary and Analysis of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act by journalist Doug Klain

[Emrys]

Last edited Tue Dec 9, 2025, 03:43 AM - Edit history (3)

Doug Klain
@DougKlain

After weeks of backroom negotiations, Congress is poised to pass a defense spending bill filled with some rather good provisions to assist Ukraine and put up obstacles to the Trump admin's attempts to divert Ukraine aid or cut off intel support.

Here's what's in the bill 👇🧵

Doug Klain
@DougKlain

Just read through the new National Defense Authorization Act text to see what provisions are in for Ukraine. I’ll have a thread up later with the full breakdown but TL;DR is Congress is poised to pass some rather good legislation to assist Ukraine.

First, here's the text itself. I'll be citing some of the key sections related to Ukraine below.

After the House and Senate passed their own versions, a conference committee worked over recent weeks to reconcile the differences—this is the result.

https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20251208/RCP_xml%5B2%5D.pdf



Sec. 1241: The new National Security Strategy may not view Russia as a major threat to US interests, but Congress sure does. This requires the administration to submit a formal assessment of the threat Russia poses to the United States and its allies.



Sec. 1242: Regardless of any US peace proposals, Congress is extending its prohibition on the use of funds for the recognition of Russian sovereignty over occupied Ukrainian territory, in keeping with decades of policy and helping to deter Russia from future aggression.

Sec. 1243: Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI)

Here's where we're going to get into the weeds on the only military assistance to Ukraine mentioned. As a reminder, the US has zeroed out almost all assistance to Ukraine under the Trump admin.



First, reminder on how the US (used to) militarily aid Ukraine:

Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA)=direct transfers of arms from US stocks.

Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI)=issuing contracts to build new arms for Ukraine.



The Trump administration likely has billions in remaining PDA and USAI authorities, but has not used them this year (this NDAA also mandates reporting on exactly how much remains).

This bill authorizes $400m to USAI for this year and next, and allows it to be used until 2029.

Remember in June when the Pentagon seized 20k anti-drone interceptors built for Ukraine?

Sec. 1243(7) creates new requirements to make that more difficult, and requires the Pentagon to ensure whatever is seized is ultimately replaced for Ukraine.

Trump administration redirects 20,000 anti-drone missiles meant for Ukraine, Zelensky confirms
"We counted on this project — 20,000 missiles. Anti-Shahed missiles. It was not expensive, but it's a special technology," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
https://kyivindependent.com/trump-redirects-20-000-anti-drone-missiles-meant-for-ukraine-zelensky-confirms/

Here’s an important point to note: The Trump administration doesn’t want to provide arms to Ukraine without getting paid to do so. Congress is reasserting that it is indeed in the US interest to arm Ukraine. The American public also agrees, according to recent polls.



Repeatedly this year, the Trump admin has threatened to end intelligence support for Ukraine. Sec. 1244 creates new oversight mechanisms requiring Congress to be notified immediately if that happens, signaling there would be serious backlash to such a move.



Sec. 1245: Oversight of US arms sales for Ukraine.

Here's a lengthy but important section. The Trump admin replaced military assistance with arms sales to Europe, largely through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). But few have understood how it's working.

Congress is creating new reporting requirements to understand exactly how the admin is using PURL, what it's sending, and to ensure that it isn't double-dipping by getting reimbursed by Europe for arms already paid for by Congress under USAI.

A key goal here is to make sure congressionally appropriated funds to arm Ukraine are being used as intended—essentially, it doesn't want the Trump admin forcing Ukraine or allies to reimburse the US for weapons it already sent or pledged to send.

Sec. 8363: The Abducted Ukrainian Children Recovery and Accountability Act from @ChuckGrassley and @amyklobuchar.

Here's a big win: the Senate passed this legislation to support operations to return Ukrainian kids stolen by Russia, and it made it into the final NDAA.

So what to make of all this?

First, this is the first and likely only legislation passed by Congress to support Ukraine in 2025.

Second, it's hard to force the admin to arm Ukraine. That USAI money isn't mandatory spending. But the NDAA does minimize potential harm.

It's also remarkable to step back and realize just how much US support for Ukraine has ended. It's unlikely it will ever return to levels seen under the last administration as long as Trump is in office, and this legislation does not guarantee new arms to Ukraine.



This NDAA is also better than what either the Senate or House originally passed on their own, and hard work clearly went in to finding ways to continue supporting Ukraine despite an admin that isn't interested in doing so.

Votes to pass this NDAA are expected in the coming days.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1998089651681435759.html

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