Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a bipartisan $1 trillion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), citing opposition to President Donald Trump’s handling of the war with Iran and refusing to approve a measure they said could further entrench U.S. involvement in the conflict.
DDM gathered that the procedural vote ended 50-46, falling short of the threshold required to advance the annual defense legislation, which includes a substantial increase in Pentagon spending and a pay raise for U.S. service members.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said lawmakers should not approve the bill while the administration continues military operations in Iran without a clear strategy or congressional backing.
“The NDAA cannot become a permission slip for the recklessness that we see occurring in Iran,” Schumer said ahead of the vote.
“Donald Trump does not get to drag the American people deeper into a war he cannot explain and does not know how to end and then demand that Congress look the other way.”
The vote came a day after the White House formally informed Congress that U.S. forces had resumed bombing operations against Iran, effectively ending a fragile ceasefire in the U.S.-Israel campaign.
The renewed military action has intensified political divisions in Washington as the conflict enters its fifth month with no clear path to ending the fighting.
Congress has voted more than 10 times on various war powers resolutions aimed at limiting the administration’s military authority, but none has succeeded, largely because Republicans continue to back Trump’s approach.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune urged lawmakers to support the defense package, arguing that Congress has a responsibility to ensure the military has the resources needed to carry out its missions.
“We have an obligation here in Congress to ensure that they have everything they need for whatever the mission may be,” Thune said.
After the bill failed to advance, Thune switched his vote in a procedural move that allows Republican leaders to bring the legislation back to the Senate floor at a later date.
Congress has approved the NDAA every year for more than six decades, making this year’s impasse particularly significant.
The legislation has become entangled in broader disputes over Trump’s military campaign against Iran and the administration’s proposal to dramatically increase defense spending.
The White House is seeking a $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027, up from roughly $900 billion last year, describing it as a long-term investment to modernize the military under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Separately, the administration has requested $350 billion through the budget reconciliation process, although House Republican leaders have indicated they are more likely to support a package closer to the $87 billion supplemental request submitted last month for operations related to Iran.
Some fiscal conservatives within the Republican Party have also questioned the scale of the proposed spending increase, despite generally supporting the administration’s military objectives.
The Senate bill also includes provisions that would restrict Defense Secretary Hegseth’s travel budget unless the Pentagon complies with congressional requests for information, including reports on a deadly strike on a school in Iran during the early stages of the conflict.
Democrats are pushing for even tougher restrictions by tying the legislation to a war powers measure that would require an end to U.S. military operations.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran and former Army helicopter pilot, said she could not support the defense bill unless it included her amendment to halt the war.
“Simply throwing more money at an out-of-control military operation is not strategy,” Duckworth said. “It’s a recipe for a forever war.”
AP.
