July 11, 2025

Warren Secures Wins on Right to Repair, Service Member Safety, Military Housing, Transparency at Defense Department in Senate Version of FY 2026 Defense Policy Bill

Executive Summary of Senate FY26 NDAA (Website)

Washington, D.C. — During the Senate Armed Services Committee’s (SASC) markup of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (FY26 NDAA) this week, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, secured key wins, including on right to repair, transparency on the removal of top military officials, troop health and safety, boosting competition among defense contractors, improved housing protections for American troops, and education. All were secured with bipartisan support in the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Senator Warren secured the following provisions in SASC’s version of the FY26 NDAA: 

Right to Repair

“It’s common sense for members of the military to be able to fix their own weapons. Senator Sheehy and I fought hard to secure this provision that will improve military readiness and save taxpayers billions of dollars. It's about time we stand up to Pentagon contractors that are squeezing every last cent from us at the expense of our national security,” said Senator Warren.

  • A provision, which includes portions of Senator Warren’s bipartisan Warrior Right to Repair Act, to guarantee all branches of the military the right to repair their equipment and requires contractors to provide any information needed to repair the equipment.

In January, Senator Warren secured Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s support for taking on costly right to repair restrictions. She has also questioned defense contractors directly for their opposition to right to repair reform and introduced separate bicameral legislation to require contractors to provide repair materials in a timely and reasonable manner. 

Promoting Transparency

“Secretary Hegseth’s attack on independent legal advisors doesn’t make anyone safer. I’m fighting to rein in this abuse of power and ensure transparency from this administration,” said Senator Warren.

  • A provision requiring DoD to notify Congress five days before the removal of a Judge Advocate General (JAG), top legal officers for the military services, and provide a justification.

Senator Warren, along with several of her SASC colleagues, sent a letter to Secretary Hegseth earlier this year raising concerns about how his firings of these top military lawyers would damage public trust and the apolitical foundation of the military legal system. In a March 2025 hearing, Senator Warren also highlighted, and a Trump defense nominee agreed with, the importance of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, whom American troops rely on for legal advice and Senator Lindsey Graham has praised as “the conscience of the military.”

Service Member Health and Safety

“I’ve heard so many stories of service members suffering from the devastating effects of blast overpressure – cases of depression, suicide, and seizures. I led historic, bipartisan reforms in last year’s NDAA and will keep pushing DoD to do more,” said Senator Warren. “I’ve been fighting on this issue for years, and a long-term study on exposure would help us better ensure troops get the care and support they deserve.”

  • A provision providing an additional $5 million for blast overpressure analysis and mitigation beyond the Trump administration’s request; 
  • A provision requiring DoD to provide a Congressional briefing on the feasibility of conducting a study on the long-term effects of blast overpressure exposure in partnership with a non-profit medical center specializing in Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and with experience working with Special Operators; 
  • A provision requiring the Government Accountability Office to study DoD’s compliance with blast overpressure reforms passed in last year’s NDAA, as well as DoD’s efforts to use cognitive assessments to track brain health, to document service member exposure, and to address the potential link between exposure and risks of suicide; and 
  • A provision requiring the Joint Safety Council to provide Congress the executive summaries of Safety Investigation Boards (SIBs) conducted for the past three years and any corrective actions that were taken. 

For over seven years, Senator Warren has led efforts to measure blast exposure and develop protocols that protect our military. She’s introduced bipartisan legislation to track service members’ exposure to and mitigate the effects of blast overpressure. She’s also hosted a hearing and a forum to highlight service members’ and veterans’ experiences with getting care for these injuries. In last year’s NDAA, Senator Warren secured historic reforms to improve access to care after exposure to blast overpressure and mitigate exposure risks. 

Senator Warren has also highlighted the need for transparency around military accidents, the crash that killed Staff Sergeant Jacob Galliher– a young father from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 

Increasing Competition 

“Increasing competition for our military’s AI and cloud computing programs creates better tools, saves money, and protects our national security. I’ll keep fighting to protect our military from being ripped off while keeping our markets fair and our information secure,” said Senator Warren. 

  • Based on Senator Warren’s bipartisan Protecting AI and Cloud Competition Act, the bill requires DoD to produce a report on competition dynamics between AI and commercial cloud providers, the impacts of competition on overall innovation in AI, barriers to entry for small and new performers, and the impact of potential or perceived concentrations of market power or market share on competition; 
  • A provision requiring the DoD Inspector General to review sole source cloud computing contracts awarded under the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability program, including justifications, approvals, and systemic challenges to competition. 
  • A provision requiring DoD to provide its strategy to monitor and mitigate the risks of future mergers and acquisitions; 
  • A provision requiring DoD to maintain multiple sources as soon as possible, and no later than fiscal year 2031, for products in critical sectors; and
  • A provision tackling consolidation in the defense contracting industry by requiring that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a review of mergers in the previous 10 years to determine if changes to defense merger review laws and policies are necessary. 

Senator Warren has urged the Defense Department to ensure its AI contracting processes will protect government data, save taxpayer funds, and promote competition. She’s also introduced bipartisan legislation to help rein in Big Tech companies and prevent them from cutting out competitors in the AI and cloud computing markets when it comes to defense contracting. 

Drug Supply Chains and Health Care

“The DoD's overreliance on overseas manufacturers gives our adversaries the power to restrict our access to the critical drugs we need to treat our men and women in uniform,” said Senator Warren. “Congress can save lives and save money by strengthening our domestic pharmaceutical supply to ensure we have access to the medicines necessary to treat service members in the field.” 

“One of the nation's biggest drug middlemen may be ripping off our military to boost its profits--and trying to hide this information from Congress. My provision ensures Congress has the information we need to hold contractors accountable for price-gouging on the backs of our servicemembers and taxpayers,” said Senator Warren.

  • A provision requiring DoD to report on how shortages and supply challenges for drugs and medical countermeasures have impacted military readiness and the ability for DoD to obtain the pharmaceuticals it needs for its personnel; and 
  • A provision requiring DoD to provide a confidential briefing to the Armed Services Committee every six months on the differences in reimbursement rates or practices, direct and indirect remuneration fees or other price concessions, and clawbacks between pharmacies that are affiliates of TRICARE’s contracted Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) and pharmacies that are not affiliates of TRICARE’s contracted PBM. 

Senator Warren has long sounded the alarm on the danger of overly relying on foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers, for both the military and civilians. She has led bipartisan oversight and urged the Defense Department to reform acquisition rules to give preference to American-made products. She has also filed legislation to end the country’s reliance on foreign countries for critical drugs and a bipartisan bill to study the impacts of foreign investment in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. Senator Warren has also called for audits into pharmacy benefit managers that price gouge the military. 

Military Housing and Childcare

“Military families deserve safe, affordable housing. Congress must investigate the potential use of rent-setting algorithms used to price gouge military families and ban abusive landlords' use of NDAs meant to keep military tenants quiet,” said Senator Warren. 

  • A provision requiring DoD to provide a report and briefing to SASC on the extent to which privatized military housing companies are using algorithmic software, including RealPage, to set apartment rents for service members paid by basic allowance for housing (BAH); 
  • A provision banning landlords from requesting that tenants sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in privatized military housing; 
  • A provision to establish a pilot program for increasing child development center employee wages on at least three military installations; and
  • A provision increasing the transparency of landlord financial practices by requiring privatized military housing companies to report their liability insurance coverage and the amounts of payments to tenants to resolve dispute resolutions. 

Senator Warren has been a leader in raising concerns about problems with privatized military housing and led the push to protect military families. She has led oversight into landlords’ use of algorithmic pricing tools like RealPage to hike rents on servicemembers. She has also introduced legislation to address private military housing landlords' use of NDAs and unsafe housing conditions. At an April 2025 hearing, Senator Warren secured a commitment from a Trump defense nominee to hold military housing contractors accountable, if needed.  

Education

“Service members put their lives on the line for this country, so there’s no excuse for our government to fall short of its promises to them. Helping service members afford quality education is how our country recruits and maintains a fighting force,” said Senator Warren.

  • A provision requiring DoD to issue a report on the status of a data match to ensure service members can automatically receive Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF); and  
  • A provision directing GAO to issue a report on challenges service members face in student loan repayment, including scams, repayment procedures, and servicer misconduct.

Senator Warren has been a leading voice in fighting for strong education benefits for service members and families, fighting to restore benefits to veterans cheated by for-profit colleges and pushing the Defense Department to release data on the Postsecondary Education Complaint System (PECS), a centralized database to track complaints against schools who participate in tuition assistance programs. At an April 2025 hearing, she pressed military leaders on the impact of the Defense Department’s shortcomings on education benefits.  

The House Armed Services Committee will convene to mark up its version of the NDAA next week. 

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