Although President Donald Trump has announced a $1 trillion topline for his defense budget, so far the administration is not addressing the chronic underfunding of the military’s long-term needs. In a new working paper, defense experts Elaine McCusker, Todd Harrison, and John G. Ferrari assess Congress’s and the Pentagon’s approaches to the 2026 defense budget and explain what both need to do to properly respond to growing threats from Iran, Russia, and China.

America’s vulnerability to China is not just military; major US industries, especially in electronics, remain dependent on Chinese manufacturing. In a new AEI report, Chris Miller and Vishnu Venugopalan analyze Apple’s supply chain as a case study in the limits and consequences of US attempts to decouple strategic industries.

Right now, defense policy is taking a back seat to negotiations over the reconciliation bill between the House, Senate, and White House. James C. Capretta compares various expert estimates of the House bill’s cost to reveal its full impact on the debt and deficit.

Among its provisions, the bill continues to provide tax incentives for long-term investment in economically disadvantaged communities, known as opportunity zones. Writing in The New York Times, Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility Deputy Director Kevin Corinth and Naomi E. Feldman explain why, if Congress wants to properly target communities in need, it cannot simply renew this provision as is. 

The bill also increases the taxation of charitable foundations’ endowments from its current 1.39 percent to up to 10 percent for the largest foundations. Daniel Stid highlights the dangers, for civil society, philanthropy, and supporters of this bill, of pursuing tax policy nakedly designed to punish political opponents.