Every year, Congress passes a major piece of legislation that sets military policy, the National Defense Authorization Act. Below are the specific recommendations that FCNL shared as Congress considers the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2027.
We urge you to promote shared security by redirecting resources away from weapons and war and towards diplomacy, cooperation, and meeting urgent human needs. We also propose that this commitment to peace does not include dedicating military resources, facilities, and personnel to immigration enforcement or domestic civilian law enforcement.
Specifically, we urge you to:
OPPOSE any increase in Pentagon spending, including the $1.15 trillion in the FY27 NDAA. The proposed $1.15 trillion Pentagon budget marks a massive unsustainable increase over the already enormous $1 trillion allocated for FY26. This proposal comes on the heels of H.R. 1, which cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare, the ACA, and SNAP while redirecting $150 billion to the Pentagon—an institution that has never passed an independent audit and cannot account for $2.5 trillion in taxpayer assets, channeling more than half its budget to corporate contractors. To steward public resources responsibly, Congress should reject the $1.15 trillion FY27 Pentagon budget and demand a credible path to a full Pentagon audit before any further budget increases are considered.
SUPPORT meaningful guardrails on military uses of artificial intelligence, especially as it relates to nuclear weapons, domestic surveillance, and autonomous weapons. The Pentagon is moving toward deploying powerful AI systems without adequate safeguards in place. This trajectory raises serious risks for human rights, civil liberties, and international security. Congress should prohibit the use of AI in nuclear weapons launch decisions, domestic surveillance, and the development or deployment of autonomous weapons. Decisions over the use of force—especially decisions with irreversible, catastrophic consequences—must remain in human hands. Congress should include these guardrails in the FY27 NDAA and ensure no further expansion of military AI capabilities proceeds without clear legal limitations and robust congressional oversight.
OPPOSE authorizing funding for Golden Dome. Since the 1960s, the U.S. has spent more than $450 billion attempting to build missile defenses capable of stopping intercontinental ballistic missiles. No system has succeeded. Now, estimates suggest Golden Dome could cost up to $3.6 trillion over 20 years, with space-based interceptors alone potentially exceeding $6 trillion—for a system that independent analysts say cannot reliably defend against peer nuclear threats. Rather than enhancing U.S. security, pursuing Golden Dome risks accelerating both a nuclear arms race and a space-based arms race while undermining prospects for arms control. Congress should demand a public architecture, an independent cost estimate, and a GAO feasibility assessment before committing another dollar.
SUPPORT the repeal of automated Selective Service registration and the abolition of the Selective Service Act. The FY26 NDAA included a provision automating Selective Service registration through existing government databases. This is an unnecessary expansion of government data collection that risks American civil liberties. This automation does not resolve the long-standing issues of Selective Service but instead engender new ones. To protect civil liberties and freedom of conscience and religion, Congress should repeal the automated Selective Service registration and repeal the Military Selective Service Act.
OPPOSE the purchase or transfer of Cluster Munitions to or from any party. Cluster munitions are among the most harmful weapons to civilians. In recognition of this, Congress has for many years prohibited the transfer of any cluster munitions with a failure rate greater than 1%, effectively forbidding the transfer of any existing U.S. stockpiles. We urge you to reject claims of any potential tactical benefits of cluster munitions, as they dismiss both the substantial danger that cluster munitions pose to civilians and the international consensus on their prohibition. We urge you to oppose any measure to loosen or remove the prohibition on the transfer of cluster munitions to any party and block the purchase of cluster munitions from any party. The NDAA should authorize full funding to U.S.-supported humanitarian demining programs, which are critical to mitigating civilian casualties from unexploded ordnance during violent conflicts and for years after a conflict ends.
SUPPORT a ban on the use of funds for extrajudicial killings. Since September 2, 2025, the United States has killed more than 200 civilians through maritime airstrikes in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The identities of most victims remain unknown, and there is no evidence that they posed any imminent threat to the United States or its citizens. These summary executions of individuals suspected of drug trafficking take place outside of any armed conflict, and may implicate the prohibition on murder under Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. FCNL urges Congress to protect due process, avoid placing United States servicemembers at risk of carrying out unlawful orders, and uphold the rule of law by prohibiting funding for these and other extrajudicial killings.
SUPPORT investments in the installation of energy resilience, energy efficiency, and distributed renewable energy systems across Department of Defense facilities. Climate-driven disasters, grid disruptions, and extreme weather increasingly threaten military readiness and infrastructure, while resilient energy systems reduce operational vulnerabilities and long-term costs. Congress should support authorization and funding for resilience planning and clean energy deployment that enhances mission assurance without increasing dependence on volatile fuel supply chains. These investments improve military preparedness while contributing to broader national energy security goals.
SUPPORT prohibiting funding for unauthorized war with Iran. Congress has not authorized war with Iran, and further escalation risks drawing the United States deeper into another costly and open-ended conflict in the Middle East. Military confrontation has increased economic instability, raised energy costs, and diverted resources from pressing domestic and national security priorities. Congress should prohibit the use of funds for military action against Iran, upholding its constitutional war powers and reducing the risk of a broader regional conflict.
OPPOSE authorization and funding for a United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation and Co-Production Initiative. U.S. cooperation on defense technology research, development, and production raises serious concerns for accountability, transparency, and compliance with existing law, including by shifting key decisions out of visible foreign aid authorization channels into more opaque procurement and contracting pipelines that reduce congressional oversight of taxpayer-funded security cooperation. Given documented human rights concerns, Congress should ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used in ways that could facilitate gross violations of human rights and should prohibit funding for weapons co-production and related security cooperation that could contribute to harm against Palestinians living under occupation.
SUPPORT broadening the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to extend eligibility to groups currently excluded, including residents of four Missouri zip codes (63106, 63107, 63136, 63137), Guam, and Enewetak Atoll veterans exposed during nuclear clean-up operations. RECA is a federal program that provides one-time compensation to individuals harmed by radiation exposure from U.S. nuclear weapons testing. On July 3, 2025, RECA was reauthorized and expanded to cover residents in newly recognized jurisdictions until December 31, 2027. Unfortunately, many groups who developed serious illnesses from living or working near nuclear test sites or waste storage areas are still not eligible for compensation. This includes thousands of veterans who cleaned contaminated land at Enewetak Atoll after the United States conducted 43 nuclear tests there, often with little protective equipment. Congress has a moral obligation to provide compensation to individuals who were directly harmed by U.S nuclear weapons testing.
