US House passes $1 trillion defence bill despite concerns over Iran war and Israel ties

The US House of Representatives narrowly passed a massive defence policy bill that would boost Washington's security ties with Israel, despite criticism from the Democrats. The bill in question was the 2027 National Defence Authorisation Act, or NDAA, which authorises an unprecedented $1.15 trillion in spending for the US military.

The bill was passed with 216 to 212 votes in favour. The vote largely remained along party lines, as all but seven Republicans voted in favour of the measure and all but six Democrats voted against. It is pertinent to note that the NDAA includes several provisions that allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to US-Israel joint military projects.

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Progressive Democrats sought to rally against a provision that boosted Israeli-US security cooperation. They claimed that the bill would integrate the countries’ intelligence services. However, the effort ultimately failed.

Democrats argued that the huge amount of money being authorised for the Pentagon was at a time when US President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans were slashing spending on social programs. They also contested the ongoing and deeply unpopular war with Iran, which the Pentagon said has cost the US $37.5 billion as of now.

The future of the bill

Historically seen by both parties as "must-pass legislation," the NDAA is one of the few major bills that always gets through Congress, having become law for 65 straight years. However, this year the bill faces major challenges, given deep partisan divisions within Congress on issues ranging from the massive size of the military budget to the Iran war, aid to ​Israel and Ukraine and "culture war" ​causes like the treatment ⁠of transgender troops.

The fiscal 2027 NDAA's fate was also complicated because Republicans voted to attach it to the "SAVE America Act," Trump-backed legislation to tighten restrictions on voting, before sending it to ​the Senate. The impact of that decision on the NDAA's fate was unclear, given that ​there are ⁠not enough votes in the Senate to pass the voting law.

Senate Democrats blocked the Senate's version of the NDAA last week. The chamber's Republican leaders have pledged to try again to advance the bill before leaving Washington for their August recess. It is pertinent to note that each year, the House and Senate pass their own versions of the ​NDAA before Armed Services committee negotiators agree on a compromise version that then comes up for a vote in each chamber.

If the compromise version passes, it would ​be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto.

With inputs from Reuters.