Trump Wants $350 Billion for the Military “IMMEDIATELY”
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President Trump posted on Truth Social, pressing Senate leadership to move “IMMEDIATELY” on what he called the $350 billion Reconciliation Bill for the military. He argued that Democrats, who take control of both chambers in January, have made blocking it a top priority, so Republicans have to pass it first.
Defense stocks fell the same day. The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (BATS:ITA) closed at $71.73, down 2.06%, and RTX (NYSE:RTX | RTX Price Prediction) fell 1.46% to $198.36.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) slid 0.98% to $604.09, and Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) lost 0.33% to $549.13. The post has no scheduled Senate vote behind it.
What the $350 Billion Bill Covers
The $350 billion is the reconciliation piece of the administration’s $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 defense request. The other $1.15 trillion goes through regular appropriations, and the Pentagon’s budget plan simply assumes the $350 billion will be enacted in a subsequent reconciliation bill.
Reconciliation is a budget procedure that passes the Senate by simple majority, so it avoids the 60-vote filibuster. Trump’s capitalized word describes how fast he wants the Senate to act. Nothing has been signed, allocated, or put under contract.
Which Contractors Each Bucket Favors
The package lists $47 billion for munitions, $17 billion for Golden Dome missile defense, more than $48 billion for critical minerals and about $103 billion for low-cost autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and counter-drone systems. Together, those categories come to more than $215 billion, and the rest is not listed.
Munitions and missile defense favor established prime contractors like RTX and Lockheed. Newer companies can compete for the autonomy and counter-drone money, and the minerals money flows mostly to suppliers outside the prime contractors.
Senate Vote Math Looks Short
Majority Leader John Thune backed a conference pledge to try for a budget resolution and defense package in the lame-duck session, but he has said he isn’t sure the votes are there. Republicans can lose only three senators on a party-line vote.
Rand Paul vowed to oppose the package, and Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, John Cornyn and Josh Hawley have raised questions. Roger Wicker and Tom Cotton support it.
House Republicans’ July framework carried $60 billion for defense, about $290 billion less than the White House asked. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, War Secretary Pete Hegseth pressed Congress to approve at least $350 billion. The government runs out of funding on Friday, Dec. 11, and that deadline will use up much of the time left in the session.
Regular Appropriations Still Drive Revenue
The primes already have plenty of signed work. Lockheed’s backlog stands at a record $292 billion, RTX’s at $340 billion and Northrop’s at $109.6 billion. All three raised 2026 guidance without this bill.
Lockheed’s chief executive said stopgap funding delays timing and new program starts but leaves demand intact. A shutdown on Dec. 11 would hurt near-term revenue more than reconciliation would help it.
How ITA Compares With Owning a Defense Prime
ITA’s mix reduces its defense-budget exposure. GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) makes up 21.69% of the fund and RTX 16.54%, while Lockheed is only 5.19% and Northrop 4.77%. That makes ITA as much a commercial-aerospace fund as a defense-budget fund, and you pay a 0.37% expense ratio for it.
Lockheed offers more direct defense exposure than ITA. Its multi-year PAC-3 and THAAD contracts are already signed, and the stock closed well below its $692 52-week high. Northrop also sits below its $774 high, but it depends more on long programs like B-21 and Sentinel.
The deadline to check is Dec. 11. If the Senate has not adopted a budget resolution by then, assume the $350 billion is gone and value these stocks on regular appropriations alone.
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Omor Ibne Ehsan is a writer at 24/7 Wall St. He is a self-taught investor with a focus on growth, cyclical, and dividend equities that have strong fundamentals, value, and long-term potential. He also has an interest in high-risk, high-reward investments such as penny stocks.
