Right to repair provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act, which would secure funding for the US military in 2026, are likely to be struck from the final language of the bill despite enjoying broad bipartisan support, sources familiar with ongoing negotiations tell WIRED.
They say that provisions in the act enabling servicemembers to repair their own equipment are likely to be removed entirely, and replaced with a data-as-a-service subscription plan that benefits defense contractors.
The right to repair has become a thorny issue in the military. If a drone, fighter jet, or even a stove on a Navy vessel fails, US servicemembers in the field can’t always fix it themselves. In many cases, they need to call a qualified repair person, approved by the manufacturer, and bring them out to the site to fix the problem.
The military would love to sidestep that hassle by giving personnel the tools and materials to make their own repairs in the field, and has repeatedly called for Congress to enable it to do so. However, some in Washington have been trying to neuter proposed right-to-repair provisions—a move that has been advocated for by defense contractor groups who sell the military the stuff they want to fix as well as the means to fix it, and stand to lose if the military is empowered to perform its own repairs.
Differing versions of the NDAA have passed the Senate and the House and the process is now in a conferencing phase, where lawmakers meet to combine the versions into one bill. The final language is expected to come through by next week; after votes in both houses of Congress, it will then go to president Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, long a supporter of repairability legislation, added Sec. 836 to the Senate version of the NDAA, a provision drawing inspiration from the Warrior Right to Repair Act she introduced in July. It called for contractors to be required to provide the US Department of Defense with “the rights to diagnose, maintain, and repair the covered defense equipment.”
A similar provision was also added to the House version of the NDAA, which was introduced by representative Mike Rogers, a Republican of Alabama and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. (Ranking member Adam Smith of Washington, also led on the bill.) Sec. 863 is a “requirement for contractors to provide reasonable access to repair materials.” In essence, it would empower servicemembers to fix their own stuff without having to rely on the manufacturer, saving time and taxpayer money.
“Military leaders, service members, the White House, and hundreds of small businesses all agree these bipartisan right to repair reforms are desperately needed,” Warren told Roll Call last week. “The giant defense contractors fighting these reforms are more interested in innovating new ways to squeeze our military and taxpayers than strengthening our national security.”
What has right-to-repair advocates worried is another provision in the House Act: Sec. 1832, “Data-as-a-service solutions for weapon system contracts.” If the other provisions are dropped, the DoD would need to negotiate and pay contractors for access to a subscription service when buying weapons and equipment. The subscription would entail information that relates to “detailed manufacturing or process data relating to how contractors or subcontractors design, develop, produce, test, certify, diagnose, maintain, repair, or otherwise support such weapon system (or component thereof).”
The military has long relied on defense contractors, buying weapons and technology manufactured by private companies. Many of those contracts feature warranty provisions and restrictions similar to what a consumer buying an iPhone or other device might encounter, like voiding a warranty if you crack the device open or becoming hamstrung by limited access to its software. This can be an especially big problem if units need repair in the middle of an active military operation.
The right to repair in the military has garnered wide bipartisan support. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth, in addition to his eyebrow-raising “no fatties” plans to change the military, has pushed for the military’s right to repair. Same with other members of the Trump administration. Servicemembers former and current, like Navy secretary John Phelan, have spoken in hearings about the importance of repairability in the military. Former Trump “drone guy” Dan Driscoll advocates for the “warrior right to repair” and has said the defense industry has conned the US military into buying expensive equipment.
Defense lobbying groups, though, have made a push to defang the repairability provision of the bill in favor of the House’s data-as-a-service tweak. In September, the group National Defense Industrial Association put out a white paper that makes the case that being forced to give the DoD access to its intellectual property (i.e. information about the product someone might need to repair it) would limit innovation by sharing company data and IP. (In response to a request for comment from WIRED, the NDIA pointed to its white paper.) Eric Fanning, CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, wrote that letting servicemembers fix their own stuff could threaten the backbone of US defense by chilling a desire for companies to make new stuff.
“Our real concern is that the proposed legislative language amounts to an eminent domain push by the federal government,” wrote Margaret Boatner, AIA’s vice president of national security policy, in an email to WIRED. “It extends well beyond just supporting in-house maintenance and repair for the military; it requires defense contractors to disclose a substantial amount of proprietary IP just to compete for contracts. Moreover, it would grant the government the authority to share this sensitive information with competitors.”
The pushback appears to have been successful, says a person with knowledge of the conference negotiations who asked not to be named for fear of political reprisal. “The House Armed Services Committee chair [Rogers] and ranking member [Smith] are sympathetic and pushing to replace the right to repair provision with this idea of data as a service, which is basically renting the military what they already sold them.”
Right-to-repair advocates also say the lobbying effort has seemed to work.
“If right to repair is replaced by data-as-a-service, it will be a direct undermining of policy outlined by the Trump White House, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, Army secretary Dan Driscoll, and Navy secretary John Phelan,” a different person familiar with the NDAA negotiations who isn’t authorized to talk to the press tells WIRED.
“Adam Smith and Mike Rogers are case studies on what the revolving door in congress looks like,” the person added. Open Secrets, a site tracking donations to politicians, shows that Smith and Rogers have each received hundreds of thousands of dollars from defense companies.
Rogers did not respond to requests for comment. In an email response to WIRED’s questions about NDAA language, a communications director for Smith’s office wrote, “Ranking Member Smith and the HASC minority staff don’t talk about amendments and provisions in the House and Senate bills during final conference negotiations.”
The United States Public Interest Research Group, or PIRG, is a consumer advocate group that has called for the military to gain the right to repair the equipment it has purchased from contractors. If the military can’t fix its stuff without paying a surplus for it, that extra money comes from taxpayers.
“At the point of sale, they have some leverage,” says Nathan Proctor, senior director of PIRG’s campaign for the right to repair, about the Department of Defense’s ability to negotiate with contractors. “But once they have the product, there is no competition at all if the manufacturer can make the repairs a proprietary process.”
Right-to-repair advocate and YouTuber Louis Rossmann called attention to the donations to Smith and Rogers and changes in the NDAA in a video last week. He calls the potential switch to a data-as-a-service policy in the NDAA’s repair language as being the military equivalent of BMW’s controversial subscription heated seats. More importantly, he cites the military as the driver of many technological innovations.
“Most of the innovation that occurred in the technological sector for over 40 years occurred in the military back when the repair was standard,” Rossmann tells WIRED. “I think the argument would be a good one to engage with in a vacuum. But the counterpoint is just reality.”
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