SerpApi.Org
The House passed a $1.14 trillion defense policy bill on Wednesday as the United States continue to engage in hostilities with Iran.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 passed on the House floor 216-212, with 205 Democrats and seven Republicans opposed to the measure. Usually a bipartisan measure, the defense bill lost democratic support over the price tag of the bill and the war in Iran. Six Democrats crossed over to support the bill: Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Jared Golden (D-ME), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Adam Gray (D-CA), Don Davis (D-NC), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA).
Republicans opposing the measure included Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Eli Crane (R-AZ).
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) said in a post to X that he was opposing the bill because it was “a bloated defense bill with harmful provisions that further empowers Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth.”
Massie's no vote, however, stemmed from a provision stuck into the bill that would require War Secretary Pete Hegseth to appoint a lead official to coordinate joint U.S.-Israel defense efforts, including technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.
Massie has publicly railed against the provision, arguing that it would “merge our military technology and supply chains with Israel’s.” The Kentucky Republican had submitted an amendment to strip the provision, but it was not approved for the floor by the House Rules Committee.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has rebuked Massie’s opposition, calling it the “dumbest possible take” and an “antisemitic grift.”
GOP SPENDING BILL INCLUDES $174,000 DEATH PAYOUT FOR FAMILIES OF LINDSEY GRAHAM AND DAVID SCOTT
Republicans also included language in this week’s procedural rule to attach the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s voter ID and proof of citizenship bill, to the NDAA upon passage in the House before sending the legislation to the Senate.
The attachment of the SAVE America Act to the NDAA is part of a deal GOP leadership made with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) to increase pressure on the Senate to pass the voter ID and proof of citizenship bill, which as stalled in the upper chamber.
