Senate Democrats block $1 trillion defense bill in protest over Iran war

[hookaleft]

Source: AP News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats blocked a $1 trillion annual defense bill Tuesday, refusing to advance the bipartisan package that would substantially increase Pentagon spending, including a pay raise for the troops, in protest of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced his opposition and other key Democrats said they could not support the annual bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, as the war drags into a fifth month with no clear endgame in sight. The tally was 50-46, failing largely along party lines to reach the threshold needed.

“The NDAA cannot become a permission slip for that recklessness that we see occurring in Iran,” Schumer, of New York, said ahead of voting.

“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.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/senate-defense-bill-iran-war-fe6f7d37197f8e04dbe12dcec390aad2

[hlthe2b]

1. As much as those troops would love that raise, I'd venture to guess they might like

some oversight and constraints placed on this cretinous pResident and his impulsive ill-conceived war and use of the military resources and troops. I'd think most in the military fully realize they are mere collateral damage to this man--if that.

[slightlv]

2. Even more (tho I haven't read the whole article yet)

trump had language in line with the SAVE act written into this years NDAA... a backdoor way to get an unneeded, unwanted list of demands from him put into law, and make voting a lot harder, if not impossible for some, women and other minorities.

[KPN]

3. I'll say it. Pay raise for the troops?! Fuck that! We need

troops who are patriots, not mercenaries. How about reinstating the fucking draft you fucking cowardly, orange-assed whiteheaded pimple!

[mahina]

5. The troops are not paid well. The radical increase has practically nothing to do with them

in my opinion.

And I think they do need support. But this request was outlandish.

[summer_in_TX]

4. A whitewash of what the bill actually includes.

A provision that does MORE to intertwine the U.S. military with the Israeli military than the more than $200 billion (inflation adjusted) in military assistance Israel has received from the U.S. since its founding in 1948.

It would greatly expand coordination to seemingly every area of defense tech, including AI, quantum, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber, biotech, and many more. It also proposes “network integration” and “data fusion.” In other words, the U.S. military’s data could soon be the Israeli military’s data.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-us-military/

Speaker Johnson tried to insert the SAVE Act into the bill, but that was voted down.

[Buddyzbuddy]

6. Thank you. The increase isn't about the troops.

Stop with their talking point. This Administration sees the budget as their own piggy bank. Everything is a "NATIONAL EMERGENCY". The addition to the Whitehouse, the new helipad, the modifications to the Qatari plane, the repainting of the new planes, the makeup room at the Pentagon for Hegseth, the office for his personal lawyer whom he made an officer. The shortage of armaments, the no bid contracts for everything. The new toys for ICE, the Palintar? contract, the money to the Drone company that Uday Trump now owns part of, the jet flyover, the birthday parade, the helicopter flyover for Kid Rock, the jet ride for???Blanche???, the illegal undeclared war in Iran, transporting and maintenance costs to keep mobilized National Guard troops on the ready in "Enemy States" of these United States of America, etc.,etc.,etc..

So PLEASE, stop with the crap, it's for our troops. Republicans have shown us they don't give a damn about our troops.