More Than Half of Senate Democrats Help GOP Pass $925 Billion Pentagon Bill

"Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Cory Booker (NJ), Maria Cantwell (Wash.) Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Andy Kim (NJ), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Adam Schiff (Calif.), Tina Smith (Minn.) Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Peter Welch (Vt.), and Ron Wyden (Ore.) opposed the bill alongside Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, and Rand Paul (R-Ky)."

"Senate Democrats are blasting President Donald Trump's increasingly authoritarian behavior and congressional Republicans for shutting down the US government to preserve devastating healthcare cuts, but over half of them voted with the GOP late Thursday to give nearly $1 trillion to the Pentagon, which has never passed an audit. The final vote on the Senate's $925 billion version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 was 77-20, with Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) not voting."

Senators approved a $925 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 by a 77-20 vote, advancing negotiations with the House. The measure directs nearly $1 trillion to the Pentagon, an agency that has never passed a financial audit, prompting criticism over unchecked military spending. Over half of Senate Democrats joined Republicans in the vote, while a coalition of Democrats, independent Bernie Sanders, and Republican Rand Paul opposed the bill. Critics accused the Trump administration and congressional Republicans of prioritizing military spending and tax breaks while pursuing healthcare cuts and using government shutdown tactics.

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