The writing was on the wall last month when only 4 Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee voted against the NDAA. The defense funding bill was doomed to fail as Republicans put forward legislation that called for $1.15 trillion for the Department of Defense and to deepen military and intelligence ties to Israel.
Both of those points were non-starters for Senate Democrats.
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The final vote was 50-46. Every Democrat who was present voted no. Republicans Jim Justice of West Virginia and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Democrats John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Alex Padilla of California did not vote.
Reuters reported:
Democrats are concerned that authorizing a huge Pentagon budget would be seen as approval of the war on Iran that began with strikes by the U.S. and Israel on February 28. They also object to the Trump administration’s push to increase military spending to a total of $1.5 trillion this year, including several hundred million dollars he has requested in a separate spending bill, even as social programs for Americans are being cut.
The procedural vote on the NDAA that failed in the Senate marks a major turning point in support for Israel and defense funding.
