US Senate passes 2026 NDAA, removing MEGOBARI Act reference

The United States Senate on Friday passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2026 with 77 votes in favor and 20 against, after removing the reference to the MEGOBARI Act related to Georgia.

It is noteworthy that the MEGOBARI Act, which was prepared against Georgia, has been removed from the legislative package and has not been adopted at this stage.

For reference, after the MEGOBARI Act failed to pass in the Senate, Congressman Joe Wilson stated that he would include the initiative in the National Defense Authorization Act to try once again to get it passed. However, with today’s decision by the Senate, it has become clear that the American lawmaker’s efforts were unsuccessful.

In addition, the NDAA includes an amendment calling for the immediate return of children abducted from Ukraine and obliges the US to assist in locating them, thereby making this humanitarian tragedy an official operational priority for the Pentagon.

This provision emphasizes the condemnation of war crimes and human rights violations committed by Russia and makes clear that this issue will not be subject to any compromise in future peace negotiations.

The bill also includes an amendment that calls for the immediate repeal of the 2002 Iraq War Authorization.

Another amendment approved by the Senate eliminates the so-called Caesar Act, a well-known law that imposed sanctions against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

The legislation passed by the Senate must now be reviewed in a conference composed of members from both chambers of Congress, where they will agree on a single, unified text, since the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed different versions of the bill.

Ultimately, the reconciled version from the conference will return to both chambers for a final vote, during which no further changes can be made. Once approved by both chambers, the bill will be sent to US President Donald Trump for signature.