Senate Committee on Armed Services

The Senate Armed Services Committee is one of the most powerful committees in Congress, with broad jurisdiction over the nation's military and defense establishment. It oversees the Department of Defense, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, as well as military research and development, nuclear energy as it relates to national security, military benefits and the Selective Service System. The committee's most significant legislative product is the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which has been passed and signed into law every year since 1962. This bill sets defense policy, authorizes military spending, and addresses emerging security challenges.

Bills referred to the committee follow a standard process: they are assigned to relevant subcommittees for review and hearings, then returned to the full committee for markup and amendment before being reported to the Senate floor. The committee has seven subcommittees focused on specific areas including Airland operations, Cybersecurity, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Personnel, Readiness and Management Support, Seapower, and Strategic Forces. Recent committee activity reflects current national security priorities. In 2026, the committee advanced the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 by a vote of 26-1, emphasizing military modernization, industrial base expansion, and reforms to Pentagon budgeting and acquisition processes. The committee has also held hearings on military readiness, space and strategic command posture, and low-cost munitions development.

The committee is led by Chair Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, and Ranking Member Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island. The committee tends toward bipartisanship, as many members have military backgrounds or represent states with significant defense interests. With 27 total members, the committee conducts extensive oversight of executive branch defense agencies and reviews hundreds of bills annually, with 963 bills referred in the current Congress.