Senators and Lawmakers Block Pentagon’s $1.15 Trillion Bill for Trump’s Illegal War on Iran, Israel Consolidation
As expected, members of the Senate Democratic Caucus on Tuesday blocked debate on the annual military authorization bill regarding President Donald Trump’s ongoing illegal war of choice in Iran and provisions for US-Israeli military integration.
House lawmakers voted 50-46, mostly along party lines, against continuing debate on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2027.
The Trump administration’s comprehensive national security proposal calls for nearly $1.5 billion in total defense-related spending by 2027, including $350 billion in funding for weapons production, shipbuilding, missile defense, drones, artificial intelligence, and other long-term military programs.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led the effort to vote for the NDAA in its current form, he said on social media: “At a time when millions are struggling to pay the bills, almost all Senate Republicans voted for a shocking $ 1.15 trillion for the Pentagon to provide special weapons to provide special weapons to Iran, which includes special weapons funding to Iran. Israel is almost it is almost empty.”
“It’s time to invest in the American people, not an endless war,” he added.
“I am NO to the NDAA,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on social media. “I cannot support excessive military spending, the authorization of Trump’s illegal war with Iran, and the more troubling provisions that force deeper US-Israeli defense and intelligence sharing.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said he “can’t support a staggering $1.15 trillion in military spending while Donald Trump goes to war with Iran and does nothing to keep Americans safe, puts US workers and citizens at risk, and raises gas prices.”
“I also cannot support the new authorities included in this bill, which seek to deepen and accelerate cooperation with Israeli contractors on surveillance and AI technologies that are ready for abuse,” Wyden added. “Open up [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s watch, surveillance technology developed by Israeli companies has been used repeatedly by repressive regimes, contributed to human rights violations in Gaza, and is being used against Americans.”
On the other hand, Republicans criticized Tuesday’s vote, where Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio accused his Democratic colleagues of “holding America” and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said “they have once again played politics with the security of our country instead of putting the security of the American people first.”
Campaigners from Progressive groups cheered Tuesday’s vote.
“For once, the Senate refused to accelerate the Pentagon’s $1.15 trillion budget,” said Medea Benjamin, founder of the women-led peace group CodePink, on social media following the vote. “After sustained pressure … the power of the people made this vote a success. Now let’s make sure the senators toe the line.”
Taxpayers for Common Sense president Steve Ellis said, “The Senate just sent a clear signal to the Pentagon that its request for a $250 billion, 28% increase in its budget is not going to fly.”
“Taxpayers deserve a Pentagon budget that properly invests in what’s important while cutting outdated, unnecessary and wasteful programs,” he continued. “Instead, the Pentagon’s request will set a new foundation for a spending spree that will add more than $3 trillion to the debt over the next eight years.”
“As the fiscal year draws to a close, lawmakers must face the facts and work together to pass a Pentagon budget that meets our real needs, not this fund to catch ill-advised boondoggles,” Ellis added.
At the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, co-president Robert Weissman called the vote “both a refusal to throw more money into a Pentagon full of waste and fraud while Republican cuts have forced millions to lose life and food assistance, and a strong rejection of Trump’s Iran War.”
“The American people are tired of spending so much money on bombs and so little on basic needs,” Weissman continued. “And they are angry about the pointless, deadly, illegal, illegal, protracted war that is costing lives and driving up fuel prices.”
“Elected officials are starting to listen,” he added. “Today’s defeat of a procedural motion on… legislation that normally moves through Congress bipartisanly is a sign that the Pentagon’s budget will no longer be rubber-stamped.”
Senators @ChrisVanHollen and @SenSanders led the charge to vote down the NDAA unless measures to embed our military with Israel are removed.
It is not in the interest of the American people to associate the Pentagon with the Israeli military. The Senate must remove those…
— IMEU Policy Project (@imeupolicy) July 14, 2026
Greg Williams, director of the Center for Defense Information at the Project on Government Oversight, said in a statement that “the Senate was right to reject the National Defense Authorization Act, especially as the executive branch continues its illegal, unauthorized war on Iran.”
“The budget ceiling in this bill is unconscionably high—resulting in an increase in military spending not seen since World War II,” Williams said.
In an effort to address that point, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) recently introduced the Slash the Pentagon Act, legislation that would cut military spending by what some critics say is still $750 billion.
