The House is back, and defense hawks in the chamber are resuming their work overseeing the military.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee are slated to receive a classified briefing Thursday morning on the Defense Department’s push to build a missile shield covering the United States, five people familiar with the plans said.
Briefing lawmakers will be Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, who heads the Pentagon’s efforts on the so-called Golden Dome program, according to these individuals.
The effort is a major priority for President Donald Trump. It’s also a huge undertaking.
The project seeks to defend against incoming threats from drones and ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles. It’ll build off of existing domestic systems, such as radars and missile interceptors. It will also involve the purchase of new space-based capabilities, such as satellites for sensors and surveillance.
While House and Senate lawmakers have signaled they’re receptive to the project, they used their versions of the annual defense policy bill to knock DOD’s information sharing on the effort as insufficient. Congress also directed some $24 billion toward the Golden Dome in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Making a return. During the shutdown, the House Armed Services Committee did get a classified update from DOD on U.S. strikes of alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.
And some top House members — including Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) — participated in a bicameral closed-door briefing on the topic earlier this month.
But with the House out of session for a stretch of 50-plus days, lawmakers have a lot of catching up to do in the defense oversight space.
