WASHINGTON, Senate Democrats blocked the annual defense spending bill on Tuesday, refusing to advance a $1.15 trillion package that funds the Pentagon in protest of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran.
The procedural vote failed 50-46, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed to proceed. Every Democrat present voted no. Senate Majority Leader John Thune switched his vote after the failure in a procedural move that allows him to bring the bill back for another vote later.
The National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and authorizes funding for the Department of Defense, has passed every year for 66 years. That streak is now in jeopardy.
Why Are We Throwing Money at This?
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer made the party’s position plain before the vote.
“The NDAA cannot become a permission slip for that recklessness that we see occurring in Iran,” Schumer said. “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.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said she would only support the bill if it included her amendment prohibiting any funds from being used for the Iran 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.”
The blockade comes as the U.S.-Iran conflict enters its fifth month with no clear end. Trump formally notified Congress on Monday that fighting had resumed after tit-for-tat attacks shattered a fragile ceasefire. The White House is seeking to raise Pentagon spending to $1.5 trillion, up from roughly $900 billion last year.
Congress has tried more than 10 times to pass war powers resolutions that would rein in the president’s ability to wage war on Iran. None have succeeded. Republicans hold majorities in both chambers and have largely backed Trump.
Thune defended the bill as necessary. “We have an obligation here in Congress to ensure that they have everything they need for whatever the mission may be,” he said.
A Political Gamble
The vote is a direct challenge to Trump’s war-making authority. The White House argues it can proceed without explicit congressional approval, a claim Democrats reject.
The bill’s failure sends a message to Republican leadership that the Iran war is a political liability. Gas prices have climbed to nearly $4 a gallon nationally. Diesel has hit $5. The economic pain is being felt ahead of the midterm elections, and Democrats are betting voters will punish the party that funds the war, not the one trying to stop it.
Whether the blockade holds will depend on whether Thune can peel off enough Democratic votes in a future vote. For now, the message from the Senate floor is clear: Democrats will not write a blank check for a war they say the president cannot win and will not end.
Source: Al Jazeera, The Associated Press, Politico