US Congress passes 2026 defence bill - what does it say about the Middle East?

The US Congress on Wednesday passed the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2026, which outlines Washington's defence priorities and spending for the coming 12 months.

The Senate passed the $901 billion legislation with a vote of 77 to 20. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives last week and will now head to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed into law.

The bill contains a great deal about the Middle East and how the US will approach the region from a defence perspective in the coming year.

It repeals the so-called Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, which were signed into law in 2019 and targeted members of the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad who were accused of war crimes and human rights abuse. The final text of the defence bill was released at the weekend and the legislation could face a vote as early as this week.

The repeal of the sanctions comes with conditions, however: it mandates a review of the situation in Syria every 180 days over the course of four years to ensure Damascus is taking appropriate action in areas such as combating ISIS, removing foreign fighters from government roles and upholding religious and ethnic minority rights.

The legislation also orders an annual report on ISIS detention centres in Syria, as well as a review of US military presence in the country and an analysis of the prospect of reopening the US embassy.

On Iraq, it eliminates the Iraq War Authorisation for Use of Military Force (AUMF). The AUMF gave the president the power to pursue those responsible for the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, which the Bush administ