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1 1 (April 16, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/gndmeirnd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional *.Research Service The Golden Dome (Iron Dome) for America: Overview and Issues for Congressional Consideration April 16, 2025 On January 27, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14186, titled The Iron Dome for America. The EO announced a shift in U.S. missile defense policy, expanding the scope of the homeland missile defense mission and directing the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop a next generation missile shield. The EO directed the Secretary of Defense to submit several deliverables to begin implementing this new policy. In February 2025, the executive branch redubbed the project Golden Dome for America. Some Members of Congress have asserted Golden Dome's potential benefit to homeland defense and have introduced legislation to support it. Other Members have questioned its possible effects on strategic stability-that is, the balance of capabilities and policies among potential adversaries that diminishes incentives for engaging in a nuclear arms race or nuclear use. Projected costs, which vary widely, may feature prominently in debates over the FY2026 defense budget. The security benefits, strategic impact, and cost of Golden Dome depend in part on characteristics of the proposed missile shield that have not been publicly detailed. Parts of the EO are stated generally and could be viewed as subject to interpretation. When Members of Congress have sought additional detail in public hearings, DOD officials testifying have largely refrained from commenting. DOD may provide more detail in the deliverables required by the EO, but it is unclear whether DOD will release these deliverables publicly or share them with Congress. Several of these deliverables were due to the President 60 days after the EO was issued. On March 27, it was reported that the President would receive three options for the architecture the following week, and on April 9, a DOD official testified that the Secretary was discussing options with the President. Overview of the Executive Order The EO generally expanded the scope of the U.S. homeland missile defense mission, in terms of the actors and the threats that the United States intends to defend against. The order declared that it is U.S. policy to deter-and defend its citizens and critical infrastructure against-any foreign aerial attack on the Homeland. It specified that this policy includes defending against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12544 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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