DoD civilian employees would not see a pay raise under the House’s 2027 spending bill, but service members would see a 5% to 7% increase.
June 10, 2026 5:38 pm
2 min read
House appropriators are backing the Trump administration’s proposed pay raise for troops in fiscal 2027 as part of a $1.1 trillion defense spending bill released Wednesday.
Military service members could see their paychecks grow by 5% to 7%, depending on their rank. Enlisted troops, particularly those at the lowest levels, would receive the largest raises.
But this year’s boost does not appear to extend to the Defense Department’s more than 700,000 civilian employees.
Enlisted service members between the grades of E-1 and E-5 would snag a 7% increase. That number drops to 6% for midlevel enlisted and senior noncommissioned officers at E-6 and above.
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Those in the first three officer ranks, or company-grade officers, would get a 6% bump as well. Field-grade officers and generals (O-4 and above) would see a 5% increase.
Military pay has grown each year since the 1970s, including by at least 2 percent annually over the past decade. The promised increase would outpace consumer inflation, as well as last year’s 3.8% raise across the armed forces. But even the top of the proposed range remains far below the 14.5% spike junior enlisted troops enjoyed in 2025.
If enacted, the change would amount to thousands of extra dollars each year for those in uniform. For instance, an E-4 with more than four years of service would see their monthly basic pay jump to around $3,900, up $300 or so. An O-5 with 20 years of service would bring in more than $12,600 per month, a $600 increase.
The 2027 defense appropriations bill “provides the resources necessary to ensure the U.S. military remains the strongest fighting force in the world,” House defense appropriations subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) said in a release Wednesday.
Paired with another $350 billion offered as part of Republicans’ latest reconciliation bill, total defense funding could hit a record-breaking $1.5 trillion when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Proponents of the massive sum argue it’s needed to overhaul the military’s aging arsenal to outpace China, while maintaining the ability to wage war anywhere around the globe and shut down transnational drug trafficking.
Overall, the House’s draft defense spending bill provides $204.1 billion for military personnel, $335.4 billion for operations and maintenance, $248.3 billion for procurement; $221 billion for research and development, and $45.1 billion for other DoD initiatives. The legislation funds a workforce of more than 2.1 million troops and civilians, a spike of 44,500 over this year’s authorization.
Lawmakers also endorsed a plan to split the account that funds military medical care into two focused pots of money. Under that $42.5 billion proposal, one account would handle medical readiness for combat operations, while the other would fund the treatment DoD employees and their dependents receive through TRICARE.
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Lt. Gen. Steven Whitney, director of force structure, resources and assessment for the Joint Staff, told reporters in April the department hopes the change will make it easier to track the military’s own medical resources versus its payments to health insurance companies.
The House defense appropriations subcommittee is likely to approve the measure Thursday.
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