A massive defense funding bill collapsed in the Senate on Tuesday, failing to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance after a unified Democratic block voted down the measure to protest ongoing hostilities with Iran.
The 50-46 procedural vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) represents a significant roadblock for congressional Republicans, who aimed to deliver on a historic $1.5 billion budget request for the Pentagon.
The overall legislative package outlines $1.1 trillion for the Department of Defense, $41 billion for the Department of Energy to oversee the nation’s nuclear arsenal, and $11 billion for various other defense-related activities. Additionally, the bill covers a 3.6% pay increase for service members alongside investments in military family housing, child care, and education.
Democratic lawmakers flatly rejected the package, tying the funding directly to the administration’s recent military actions. The vote follows a formal notification to Congress last Friday that the U.S. has returned to war with Iran.
“Now the White House has formally notified Congress that hostilities have resumed, that American strikes are under way again and our forces remain positioned for more. Yet Republicans want the Senate to take up the NDAA, the defense bill, as though none of this is happening,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Other Democrats echoed Schumer’s stance, framing the NDAA as a direct funding mechanism for the conflict.
“Tonight the Senate is voting to start debate on the annual defense bill. It’s essentially an Iran War authorization bill. A totally unprecedented 50% increase in spending to fund the war without any meaningful restraints. I’m voting NO,” Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said on Monday.
The legislative standoff comes on the heels of a concurrent war powers resolution passed by the Senate in June, which directed the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a formal declaration of war or specific congressional authorization.
To preserve the ability to bring the bill back to the floor, Senate Majority Leader John Thune switched his vote from “yes” to “no” at the last minute—a standard procedural maneuver allowing a motion to reconsider the package at a later date. Four senators were absent for Tuesday’s vote: Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Jim Justice of West Virginia, and Democrats John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Alex Padilla of California.
The current gridlock stands in sharp contrast to the bill’s early progress, where it advanced out of the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 11 with a bipartisan 18-9 vote.
The defense authorization process remains stalled in both chambers of Congress. On June 30, the House of Representatives also failed to advance its version of the NDAA during a procedural vote. That effort was derailed by 13 Republicans who voted against a rule to debate attaching the Safeguard America Eligibility Act (SAVE) America Act to the defense bill.
Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna argued at the time that House leadership’s strategy would allow the Senate to easily strip the election integrity bill from the final NDAA package. Following that failed vote, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also voted “no” to allow a motion to reconsider.
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