Republicans passed the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, largely keeping their conference together to get it through the House.
The House voted 231-196 to pass the legislation, with four Republicans voting against it: Reps. Tim Burchett, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Anna Paulina Luna and Thomas Massie. Seventeen Democrats voted in support. The massive bill authorizes $848 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2026.
“We didn’t get any of the amendments and the debates that we wanted; not a single solitary one,” Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services committee, said, according to Politico. “Meanwhile, all manner of different issues that are pure culture war partisan issues were allowed in. I fear that many of those are going to pass.”
The NDAA struggled to gain popularity among Democrats within the Armed Services Committee, but still ultimately passed out of committee by a vote of 55-2, even after several provisions were added to block gender-affirming medical care from being accepted under Tricare and an amendment to repeal the 1991 and 2002 laws authorizing the use of military force.
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Republicans were eager to tout the legislation passing, though it still has to pass the Senate.
“The FY-26 [defense authorization bill] cuts red tape, streamlines bureaucracy, and refocuses acquisition on its most important mission: getting our warfighters what they need when they need it,” Rep. Mike Rogers, the chair of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the policy bill ensures American “military forces remain the most lethal in the world and can deter any adversary.”
“This legislation advances President Trump and House Republicans’ Peace Through Strength Agenda by codifying 15 of President Trump’s executive orders, ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos,” Johnson said in a statement.
The Senate’s defense bill is expected to face a floor vote this week. As the House voted on its version of the bill, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a vote on an amendment to release in 30 days all DOJ files concerning Jeffrey Epstein.
Senate Republicans tabled the measure 51-49, with Republican Sens. Rand Paul and Josh Hawley joining Democrats in voting against tabling the amendment.
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