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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2930 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2930
To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and
to prohibit the procurement and deployment of low-yield nuclear
warheads, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 29, 2025
Mr. Markey (for himself and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reduce spending on nuclear weapons and related defense spending and
to prohibit the procurement and deployment of low-yield nuclear
warheads, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Smarter Approaches to Nuclear
Expenditures Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States continues to maintain an excessively
large and costly arsenal of nuclear delivery systems and
warheads that are a holdover from the Cold War.
(2) The current nuclear arsenal of the United States
includes approximately 3,748 total nuclear warheads in its
military stockpile, of which approximately 1,770 are deployed
with five delivery components: land-based intercontinental
ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles,
long-range strategic bomber aircraft armed with nuclear gravity
bombs, long-range strategic bomber aircraft armed with nuclear-
armed air-launched cruise missiles, and short-range fighter
aircraft that can deliver nuclear gravity bombs. The strategic
bomber fleet of the United States comprises 87 B-52 and 20 B-2
aircraft, over 66 of which contribute to the nuclear mission.
The United States also maintains 400 intercontinental ballistic
missiles and 14 Ohio-class submarines, up to 12 of which are
deployed. Each of those submarines is armed with approximately
90 nuclear warheads.
(3) According to the Congressional Budget Office, the
projected cost to sustain and modernize the United States
nuclear arsenal has increased significantly. From 2025 to 2034,
the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost will be
$946,000,000,000 to operate, sustain, and modernize current
nuclear forces, an average of $95,000,000,000 annually. When
accounting for inflation and rising program expenses, the cost
could easily surpass $1,000,000,000,000 in the 10 year period
after the date of the enactment of this Act. Current estimates
from the Congressional Budget Office for the period between
2025 and 2034 have already ballooned by 25 percent, or
$190,000,000,000, more than the 2023 estimate for the period
between 2023 and 2032. Further calls to increase the nuclear
arsenal would increase these projections.
(4) According to the Government Accountability Office, the
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has still not
factored affordability concerns into its planning as was
recommended by the Government Accountability Office in 2017,
with the warning that ``it is essential for NNSA to present
information to Congress and other key decision makers
indicating whether the agency has prioritized certain
modernization programs or considered trade-offs (such as
deferring or cancelling specific modernization programs)''.
Instead, the budget estimate of the Department of Energy for
nuclear modernization activities during the period of fiscal
years 2021 through 2025 was $83,619,000,000--$15,410,000,000
more than the 2020 budget estimate of the Department for the
same period.
(5) A December 2020 Congressional Budget Office analysis
showed that the projected costs of nuclear forces over the next
decade can be reduced by $15,380,000,000 to $16,870,000,000 by
trimming back current plans, while still maintaining a triad of
delivery systems. Even larger savings would accrue over the
subsequent decade.
(6) The Department of Defense's June 2013 nuclear policy
guidance entitled ``Report on Nuclear Employment Strategy of
the United States'' found that force levels under the April
2010 Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and
Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms between the United
States and the Russian Federation (commonly known as the ``New
START Treaty'') ``are more than adequate for what the United
States needs to fulfill its national security objectives'' and
can be reduced by up to \1/3\ below levels under the New START
Treaty to 1,000 to 1,100 warheads.
(7) President Trump expanded the role of, and spending on,
nuclear weapons in United States policy at the same time that
he withdrew from, unsigned, or otherwise terminated a series of
important arms control and nonproliferation agreements.
SEC. 3. REDUCTIONS IN NUCLEAR FORCES.
(a) Reduction of Nuclear-Armed Submarines.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated
or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 or any fiscal year
thereafter for the Department of Defense may be obligated or expended
for purchasing more than eight Columbia-class submarines.
(b) Reduction of Ground-Based Missiles.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, beginning in fiscal year 2026, the forces of the Air
Force shall include not more than 150 intercontinental ballistic
missiles.
(c) Reduction of Deployed Strategic Warheads.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, beginning in fiscal year 2026, the forces of
the United States Military shall include not more than 1,000 deployed
strategic warheads, as that term is defined in the New START Treaty.
(d) Limitation on New Long-Range Penetrating Bomber Aircraft.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any of
fiscal years 2024 through 2030 for the Department of Defense may be
obligated or expended for purchasing more than 80 B-21 long-range
penetrating bomber aircraft.
(e) Prohibition on F-35 Nuclear Mission.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or
otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 or any fiscal year
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy
may be used to make the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft capable of
carrying nuclear weapons.
(f) Prohibition on New Air-Launched Cruise Missile.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal
year 2026 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for the
research, development, test, and evaluation or procurement of the long-
range stand-off weapon or any other new air-launched cruise missile or
for the W80 warhead life extension program.
(g) Prohibition on New Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal
year 2026 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense
may be obligated or expended for the research, development, test, and
evaluation or procurement of the LGM-35 Sentinel, previously known as
the ground-based strategic deterrent, or any new intercontinental
ballistic missile.
(h) Termination of Uranium Processing Facility.--Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be
appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 or any
fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department
of Energy may be obligated or expended for the Uranium Processing
Facility located at the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge,
Tennessee.
(i) Prohibition on Procurement and Deployment of New Low-Yield
Warhead.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal
year 2026 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended to deploy the
W76-2 low-yield nuclear warhead or any other low-yield or nonstrategic
nuclear warhead.
(j) Prohibition on New Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds
authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal
year 2026 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense
or the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for the
research, development, test, and evaluation or procurement of a new
submarine-launched cruise missile capable of carrying a low-yield or
nonstrategic nuclear warhead, as the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review found
this system ``no longer necessary''.
(k) Limitation on Plutonium Pit Production.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or
otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 or any fiscal
year thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department
of Energy may be obligated or expended for expanding production
of plutonium pits at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los
Alamos, New Mexico, or the Savannah River Site, South Carolina,
until the Administrator for Nuclear Security submits to the
appropriate committees of Congress an integrated master
schedule and total estimated cost for the National Nuclear
Security Administration's overall plutonium pit production
effort during the period of 2026 through 2036.
(2) Requirements for schedule.--The schedule required to be
submitted under paragraph (1) shall--
(A) include timelines, resources, and budgets for
planned work; and
(B) be consistent with modern management standards
and best practices as described in guidelines of the
Government Accountability Office.
(l) Prohibition on Sustainment of B83-1 Bomb.--Notwithstanding
other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated
or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 or any fiscal year
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy
may be obligated or expended for the sustainment of the B83-1 bomb, as
the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review declared the B83-1 ``will be retired''.
(m) Prohibition on Space-Based Missile Defense.--Notwithstanding
other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated
or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 or any fiscal year
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy
may be obligated or expended for the research, development, test, and
evaluation or procurement of a space-based missile defense system.
(n) Prohibition on the W-93 Warhead.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or
otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 or any fiscal year
thereafter for the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy
may be obligated or expended for the procurement and deployment of a W-
93 warhead on a submarine launched ballistic missile.
SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED.
(a) Initial Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of
Energy shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report outlining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3.
(b) Annual Report.--Not later than March 1, 2026, and annually
thereafter, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall
jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
outlining the plan of each Secretary to carry out section 3, including
any updates to previously submitted reports.
(c) Annual Nuclear Weapons Accounting.--Not later than September
30, 2026, and annually thereafter, the President shall transmit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report containing a comprehensive
accounting by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of
the amounts obligated and expended by the Federal Government for each
nuclear weapon and related nuclear program during--
(1) the fiscal year covered by the report; and
(2) the life cycle of such weapon or program.
(d) Cost Estimate Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees
of Congress a report outlining the estimated cost savings that result
from carrying out section 3.
SEC. 5. APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Foreign Relations, the Committee on Appropriations, and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee
on Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Natural Resources
of the House of Representatives.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
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