SerpApi.Org
The House narrowly passed its marquee $1.15 trillion defense policy bill largely along party lines Wednesday amid a bitter partisan divide over President Donald Trump’s conduct of the war against Iran and his push for a massive Pentagon spending boost.
Just six Democrats supported the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which House Republicans muscled through in a tight 216-212 vote. Those Democratic votes proved decisive, helping Republicans overcome seven defections from their own ranks to pass the bill.
The vote is a win for Trump, whose party endorsed a large portion of his defense plans. It’s also a win for Speaker Mike Johnson, who overcame GOP unrest by steering the bill to the right on the House floor. But in doing so, Republicans ensured they wouldn’t be able to count on the support of most Democrats, who were already unlikely to back pro-Trump policies.
The final bill includes a variety of conservative provisions aimed at solidifying GOP support — including renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War, blocking coverage for gender-affirming care and making it easier for troops to carry their personal firearms on military bases.
Republican leaders also attached their election overhaul backed by Trump, known as the SAVE America Act, at the behest of hard-line members who previously blocked the defense bill.
The typically bipartisan support for the legislation — one of the few major bills to become law each year — broke down early on as Democrats declined to endorse Trump’s record-breaking budget without guardrails on the Iran war, strikes against suspected drug smuggling boats in Latin America, the deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities and other contentious administration policies.
Compromise defense legislation is unlikely to materialize until after the midterm elections. The conservative House bill almost won’t pass muster in the Senate, where Democrats already stalled the upper chamber’s own version of the bill in protest of the war.
Ahead of the vote, top House Armed Services Committee Democrat Adam Smith of Washington pinned the blame on Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose “out of control” policies he argued are undermining bipartisan consensus on national security.
"We are in an incredibly, incredibly dangerous time. I want to maintain the bipartisan nature of this bill," Smith said. "But if we're going to do this, we're going to need some Republicans to stand up to the president of the United States and say, 'No.'"
Democratic leadership recommended members oppose the bill amid disagreements with Republicans' approach to the budget and Iran and the minority largely being blocked from receiving votes on key issues. Six centrist Democrats still backed the GOP-led bill: Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Adam Gray of California and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington.
Seven frequent GOP critics of the annual defense bill opposed it: Reps. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Chip Roy of Texas.
Most of the defense bill is subject to broad bipartisan agreement. The measure aims to speed up the Pentagon acquisition process to more quickly field new technology. It also would grant military personnel pay raises ranging from 5 to 7 percent. And it renews restrictions on significant troop withdrawals from Europe amid concerns from both Republicans and Democrats that Trump could swiftly pull troops out of NATO nations.
While the policy bill does not allocate any funding, the NDAA is often seen as a significant indicator of support for Pentagon spending. The bill makes a down payment on Trump’s historic $1.5 trillion military budget — endorsing the $1.15 trillion in base budget funding the White House has requested through the annual appropriations process.
The remaining $350 billion, which the bill does not address, would come through a separate party-line reconciliation bill.
The full $1.5 trillion request amounts to roughly a 50 percent hike in defense spending from the current year’s level. The eye-popping total is seen as a long shot on Capitol Hill. But defense hawks have argued Congress must secure as much money as possible for the military to modernize and to meet emerging threats.
"For the sake of guaranteeing our freedom well into the future, we need to act now to reverse decades of underinvestment and neglect in our armed forces and our defense industrial base,” said House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). “This bill will do that and much more.”
In addition to wrangling over the annual budget, Congress is grappling with a nearly $90 billion emergency White House supplemental request that includes $67 billion to cover the costs of the Iran war. Democrats have balked at approving more money for the war, and House Republicans are pushing to provide extra money through a partisan reconciliation package.
Despite their opposition, Democrats tallied some wins in the bill. Democrats won a provision to protect collective bargaining rights for civilian defense employees. The bill also would require the Pentagon to provide lawmakers an explanation within five days when senior military officers are dismissed, a move that comes after Hegseth has abruptly fired numerous top generals and admirals without explanation.
The bill also includes a Democratic-authored provision to change the names of nine Army bases that were once named for Confederate military officials. Those titles were changed under former President Joe Biden but restored by Trump last year, honoring different soldiers with similar names.
