Congress Tackles Childcare, ‘Secret’ Spending in NDAA

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has introduced multiple provisions within the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that focus on childcare for military families, stopping “secret” spending by the Pentagon, and codifying sex-neutral standards.

The NDAA recently passed out of both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, setting the stage for both congressional chambers to deliberate the final language within the sweeping legislation that has been voted into law for more than six decades and guides Department of Defense funding and policies.

Some provisions that have been included out of committee have been widely supported, while others have drawn intense scrutiny due to their controversial impacts.

Right-to-repair, for example, was included in both the House and Senate plans and is supported by wide swaths of Americans across party lines due to how it can protect military service members while better utilizing U.S. taxpayer dollars. A recent poll showed that more than 75% of all Americans—Democrats, Republicans and independents—endorse service members being able to fix their own equipment without delays imposed by waiting on defense contractors.

Other provisions have drawn broad attention due to current events and longtime diplomatic relationships between the U.S. and Israel. Section 224 of the drafted National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” would require the defense secretary to designate an executive agent to coordinate U.S.-Israel defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration and industrial cooperation.

Critics have warned that if Section 224 remains in the final bill, it could usher in a new era of intertwined militaries never before seen while providing Israel with “seemingly every area of defense tech,” including artificial intelligence, quantum technology, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber and biotechnology, according to Ben Freeman, director of the1,562-page document Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute.

The text for the NDAA being taken up by the Senate was released Tuesday afternoon as part of a 1,562-page document.

Ernst’s Numerous NDAA Provisions

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s $1.14 trillion NDAA passed last Wednesday by an 18-9 vote, opening the door for multiple provisions submitted by Ernst to potentially be included in the final version.

Ernst is a mother and grandmother who served in the U.S. Army Reserve and Iowa Army National Guard for more than two decades. She spoke exclusively with Military.com as her chamber begins its own deliberations.

“A strong America starts with a strong military,” Ernst told Military.com. “As a combat veteran, I’ve made it my mission to uphold our nation’s strength by ensuring service members have the resources they need to remain the most lethal fighting force in the world.”

Thanks to the measures I’ve fought to include in this year’s NDAA…I’m more confident than ever that our military will be ready to deter and defeat any threat.

Her measures can be divided into three main categories: putting U.S. warfighters and their families first, ensuring every defense dollar counts, and advancing peace through strength. The NDAA provisions contained within each measure are as follows:

Putting Warfighters First

• Expanding Childcare Access for Military Families – Military.com originally reported in April how Ernst introduced her “HERO Child Care for Military Families Act” to expand access to Pentagon child care assistance by allowing more providers to participate while establishing a pre-clearance system for child care workers to speed up hiring and reduce staffing shortages. It also creates a department-wide data system to track child care capacity, waitlists, vacancies and unmet needs.
• Advancing Readiness with Equal Expectations – Ernst, the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate, secured what she described as a landmark amendment to codify sex-neutral occupational performance standards, ensuring military jobs are filled based on merit and readiness while maintaining the high standards our national defense demands.

Ensuring Every Defense Dollar Counts

• Stopping Secret Spending at the Pentagon – Ernt’s “Stop Secret Spending Act” goes after “Pentagon bureaucrats hiding tens of billions of dollars” through arrangements known as “other transaction agreements” (OTAs), making public all government spending that currently by law are supposed to be publicly disclosed on the searchable website USAspending.gov. The Pentagon has obligated $77.5 billion for OTAs over the past five years and another $7.6 billion since October of last year, according to her office, citing a 2021 Pentagon Office of Inspector General audit showing how at least two unvetted foreign contractors were part of OTA projects that received awards and had access to U.S.-only information.
• Advancing the Pentagon’s Path to a Clear Audit – The “Reviewing Every Check and Each Invoice Purchasing Troops’ Supplies (RECEIPTS) Act” requires the Pentagon to achieve a clean audit by 2028 and to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technology to reduce the reliance on costly consultants. It would reward military departments and defense agencies that achieve clean audits after FY 2028 while authorizing $300 million for AI, automation and business system modernization to accelerate audits and improve financial accuracy, fully offset by eliminating existing consulting contracts.
• Canceling Zombie Charge Cards – The “Deactivating and Eliminating Cards Linked to Inactive or Nonexistent Employees (DECLINE) Act” ensures charge cards and accounts are promptly deactivated and closed when a federal employee leaves their job. It also prohibits the use of government-issued charge cards at casinos, strip clubs, and similar establishments, closing a long-standing gap in spending accountability. The senator cited Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) data showing that the federal government holds approximately 4.6 million active purchase cards and accounts, with $40 billion in spending in 2024.

Advancing Peace Through Strength

• Partnering With Our Nordic Allies – An Arctic defense provision directs the Pentagon to deepen military partnerships with Nordic allies across the air, missile, maritime, cyber, and space domains, strengthening America’s northern flank against Russian and Chinese threats.