WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is planning to reroute roughly $4.3 billion from fiscal 2026 coffers in order to pay for “higher priority items,” including increased personnel and operational costs around the globe, the department told lawmakers in a new reprogramming notification.
In a 47-page omnibus reprogramming request dated June 29, Michael Powers — the acting Pentagon comptroller and chief financial officer — outlines an array of weapon and tech programs it wants to strip dollars from to pay for “unforeseen military requirements” which are “determined to be necessary in the national interests.”
A reprogramming is not a new budget request. Rather, it is asking Congress to allow the department to shift appropriated funding from one line item to a different line item — in this case, primarily towards personnel costs “required to support emergent mobilization and training requirements for critical operational missions that advance state and national priorities, and strengthen community safety, while sustaining high levels of readiness.”
The document does not specifically spell out the increased operational costs associated with the ongoing war in Iran or the targeting of small boats in the Caribbean. But it does give a sense of the strain on the force from ongoing operations that weren’t planned when the FY26 budget was approved.
Of the $4.3 billion that would be reprogrammed, $1.1 billion would go to cover Army personnel costs, while another $1.1 billion would go to the Army National Guard’s personnel coffers. For operations and maintenance support, $490 million would be added to the Guard and $36 million to the Army.
In a similar vein, Navy personnel coffers are slated to receive an additional $569 million, while the Marine Corps’ personnel accounts grow by $130 million, the Air Force’s by $717 million and the Space Force’s by $92 million.
Inside Defense first reported on the omnibus reprogramming.
In exchange, the Pentagon is looking to cut elsewhere. The Army, for example, will shift $1.3 billion away from National Guard training and admin accounts, while also stripping $746 million away from the Army’s “operating forces” budget line due to “efficiencies in contract services and under execution in logistical support” and deferring work on construction and recapitalization projects.
The ground service’s weapon and tech coffers are also being raided, with Army missile procurement accounts taking a $235 million hit. That includes a $150 million reduction to the Stinger modification line and buying four fewer Sgt Stout Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) vehicles to free up $74 million.
Over in the Navy, the Pentagon detailed a $1.4 billion shift to the service’s FY26 budget with $80 million pulled from aircraft procurement accounts. The Tagos Surtass Ships line also was hit with a $612 million degradation, while there’s a $200 million cut to the CVN-81 due to “program delays.”
“Funds are available due to schedule uncertainty and late start of construction of lead T-AGOS (T-AGOS 25, a Fiscal Year 2022 ship),” the Pentagon told lawmakers. “With the integrated baseline review (IBR) and critical design review (CDR) delaying at least one quarter since the FY 2026 President’s Budget, start of construction for the lead ship (April 2027) will likely delay.”
Navy research and development programs didn’t escape unscathed with $207 million being reprogrammed, while the Marine Corps missile procurement coffers also received a $187 million hit.
Over in the Air Force, the notice outlines $1.5 billion in cuts with $99 million being pulled from personnel accounts, while aircraft procurement programs are reduced by $774 million to include $191 million pulled from the F-35 line.
And within the Space Force, the Pentagon outlines plans to pull more than $266 million from research and development accounts and $42 million from space procurement.
