Rep. Nancy Mace Secures 29 Wins For America's Military In FY27 NDAA Markup

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jun. 8, 2026) - Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC-01) secured 29 amendments during the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markup, delivering wins across military readiness and merit, accountability, women's safety, public health, animal welfare, and South Carolina's coastal industry. The amendments reflect Congresswoman Mace's commitment to a stronger, more accountable military and a government which puts service members and their families first.

"We delivered 29 wins for America's military. Our amendments put readiness and merit back at the forefront, cut through the DEI nonsense, strengthen protections for our service members, support women's safety, deliver justice for child victims, and protect our coastal industry," said Congresswoman Mace. "Every single one of these amendments matters because every single one strengthens our national defense and the people who serve it. This is what showing up, doing the work, and putting America first looks like."

The 29 Mace amendments passed during the FY27 NDAA markup include:

Military Readiness & Merit

• Requires the exclusive use of merit in military personnel actions. (6081)
• Directs the Secretary of Defense to report on the impacts of DEI criteria, metrics, and quotas on promotion selection board recommendations. (6757)
• Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish a Joint Experimentation and Training Range Innovation Office. (6787)
• Directs the Under Secretary of Personnel & Readiness to provide a briefing on tactical officers at senior military colleges. (6621)
• Provides that nationals of adversarial nations may not receive instruction at or otherwise attend a Service Academy. (6077)
• Extends the prohibition on lobbying the Department for departing flag and general officers and senior civilian equivalents. (6080)
• Directs SECNAV to rename the USNS Cesar Chavez in keeping with Navy naming conventions, naming the vessel after an individual, place, or concept reflecting the values and history of the United States and the Navy. (6639)

Women's Safety & Sexual Misconduct Accountability

• Establishes an offense under the UCMJ for retaliating against a person who reports or plans to report an instance of sexual harassment. (6717)
• Establishes a data sharing arrangement between the military departments to share information concerning substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct. (6721)
• Requires the Department to implement uniform protocols on screening for experiences with unwanted sexual behavior. (6075)
• Requires military medical treatment facilities to have continuous availability of at least one sexual assault nurse examiner. (6074)
• Requires military medical treatment facilities to have continuous availability of at least one obstetrician-gynecologist or certified nurse-midwife. (6751)

Public Health & Troop Welfare

• Prohibits funds from being obligated or expended to conduct gain-of-function research on a potential pandemic pathogen. (6831)
• Directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a comprehensive, longitudinal study to assess the long-term effects of exposure to toxic substances on the reproductive health and fertility of members of the Armed Forces. (6889)
• Directs the Secretary of the Navy to report on steps the Department is taking to meet the mental health needs of its students and reduce the rate of suicide at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command. (6795)
• Directs the Secretary of Defense to report the Department's implementation of programs to provide healthy and nutritious food and nutrition labeling on foods. (6790)
• Provides that legally available peptides may not be included on the prohibited dietary supplement ingredients list if obtained or used lawfully. (6091)

Accountability & Acquisitions

• Requires revisions to acquisition regulations related to information systems vulnerabilities for certain federal contractors. (6288)
• Pilot program on the use of distributed ledger technology for inventory management. (6092)
• Directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to submit a briefing on domestic supply chain for infrared-absorbing quantum dot materials. (6799)
• Directs the Secretary of the Army to submit a report on the effects of decommissioning APS-3 and land-basing the stocks. (6618)

Defense Investments

• Increases RDT&E, Navy, Ohio Replacement by $15,000,000. (6265)
• Increases RDT&E Navy, Undersea Warfare System Development by $6,000,000. (6661)

Animal Welfare

• Amends the prohibition on painful research on dogs and cats by the Department to include nonhuman primates. (6617)
• Prohibits funds from being used to carry out animal research in collaboration with or located in a foreign country of concern. (6712)
• Directs the Secretary of Defense to report on the implementation of the Award of Medals or Other Commendations to Handlers of Military Working Dogs. (6625)

Justice & Child Protection

• Authorizes the death penalty for the offense of rape of a child under the UCMJ. (6716)

South Carolina & Coastal Industry

• Provides that seafood shall not be eligible for an exception to the Berry amendment, protecting domestic seafood procurement. (6898)
• Directs SecDef to provide a report on the Department's efforts to identify, monitor, and counter Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing operations. (6287)

The FY27 NDAA will now head to the House floor for consideration.

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