US Congress Republicans seek $27bn for Golden Dome defence system in Trump tax bill

Republicans in the US Congress plan to introduce a sweeping $150bn (R2.8-trillion) defence package that will give an initial $27bn (R510bn) boost to President Donald Trump's controversial Golden Dome missile defence shield, according to a document and a congressional aide.

The measure, which will be in addition to the approved $886bn (R16.7-trillion) national security budget for 2025, would also fund the building of 14 warships and lift homeland security spending. It will be part of Trump's sweeping tax cuts bill, which will cut taxes by about $5-trillion (R94.5-trillion) and add about $5.7-trillion (R107.7-trillion) to the federal government's debt over the next decade.

The measure, details of which have not been previously reported, was designed to address the military's most pressing needs, Republican senator Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate armed services committee, told Reuters in an interview.

He said it was focused on supercharging key areas such as naval shipbuilding, missile defence and space sensing and strengthening the country's military presence, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, part of a broader strategy to prevent conflict.

“Strength, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, will make China less eager to break the status quo, which has led to a vast global prosperity among people who've never had it before. This is part of a plan to prevent war,” Wicker said.

Republican leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees hammered out the legislation that will be unveiled as soon as Friday night.

The $27bn investment in Golden Dome will fund the building of more missile interceptors and the purchase of terminal high altitude area defence (Thaad) antiballistic missile batteries, according to the congressional aide. Thaad is made by Lockheed Martin.

Elon Musk's SpaceX and two partners have emerged as frontrunners to win a crucial part of the Golden Dome programme that would track incoming missiles, Reuters reported last week.

Mike Rogers, chair of the House armed services committee, said the bill would be moved through the House armed services committee next week and he wanted it to get to the president's desk as soon as possible.

“We're revitalising our defence industrial base, strengthening our ability to deter adversaries such as China, and giving our service members the support they deserve,” he said.

The congressional aide said the two Republican chairs were in step with Trump on the spending priorities detailed in the package.

According to the document seen by Reuters, the bill's largest item is $29bn for the procurement of 14 new ships, and what it called a “historic largest-ever” investment in unmanned ships.

As part of an $11bn expansion of combat aircraft purchases, the bill also funds the purchase of about 40 Boeing Co F-15EX fighter jets, the congressional aide said.

About $20bn in funding has been allotted for the production of new munitions, the expansion of the country's supplier base and the replenishment of critical minerals stockpiles.

The spending package includes $14bn to fund the adoption of artificial intelligence and to expand the production of new low-cost weapons. The industrial scale of the war in Ukraine has highlighted the necessity for deeper inventories of relatively inexpensive weapons.

In a push to deter China, the package earmarks $6bn to weapons procurement priorities for the Pacific.

It also provides significant funding for the development of innovative technologies, including a $5bn investment in autonomous systems, a substantial increase from the $500m allocated by former president Joe Biden's administration.

To help address the Pentagon's chronic audit failures, $700m has been earmarked to accelerate the adoption of more automated systems in the department of defence business processes.

Notably, much of the funding allocated in the package will not expire at the end of the fiscal year, providing a significant boost to the country's defence capabilities.

The measure will move forward through the process of reconciliation, a parliamentary procedure that allows Congress to pass budget-related bills with a simple majority vote, bypassing the usual 60-vote threshold required for most legislation.

Reuters