WASHINGTON — 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.”
The Senate vote comes a day after the White House formally notified Congress that it had resumed bombing strikes against Iran, effectively undoing the fragile ceasefire in the U.S.-Israel-led conflict that has resulted in economic disruptions, including volatile gas prices ahead of the midterm elections.
Congress has tried repeatedly to slap guardrails on the administration, voting more than 10 times on various war powers resolutions that would halt hostilities. But those efforts have not succeeded, and most Republicans in the House and Senate majorities back Trump.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called the defense package a good bill and implored his colleagues to provide the resources to ensure the U.S. is kept safe.
“We have an obligation here in Congress to ensure that they have everything they need for whatever the mission may be,” he said.
After the bill failed to advance, Thune switched his vote in a procedural move that will allow the leader to bring it back up for consideration again later.
For decades, Congress had made sure to approve the annual defense bill each year, setting the policy and direction for the department and authorizing the funds that would later be allocated to carry out its investments in systems, supplies and missions.
This year, the 66th annual NDAA is running into a double-whammy of opposition. Lawmakers are fuming over Trump’s military action against Iran and resisting the White House request to substantially increase Pentagon spending to $1.5 trillion, up from about $900 billion last year.
The sizable boost of funds aligns with the White House’s 2027 budget request as the Trump administration seeks a generational investment to modernize the Defense Department, which it refers to as the Department of War under Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth was scheduled to meet later Tuesday evening with House Republicans as Congress considers providing additional money through a separate budget reconciliation bill the party can pass on its own, overpowering the opposition from Democrats.
The White House has requested $350 billion from Congress under the budget reconciliation process, but House GOP leaders have indicated it is likely to be a much smaller amount, more in line with $87 billion the White House requested last month as supplemental funding for Iran.
But Republican deficit hawks are skeptical of the big budget numbers, despite support for the war within their ranks.
The extra defense funding comes on top of the additional $150 billion Republicans already provided the Pentagon last year under Trump’s big tax breaks bill that some say has not been spent or fully accounted for.
At the same time, senators want to impose restraints on Hegseth if he fails to comply with their demands for more information about department procedures and accounts.
The Senate bill would block the secretary’s travel funds unless he provides reports they have requested, including on a deadly Iran school strike at the start of the war.
Democrats, however, are pushing for further limits in line with a war powers resolution that would force the cessation of military actions.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a veteran who flew helicopter combat missions in Iraq, said she would oppose the bill unless it included her amendment to end the war.
“Simply throwing more money at an out-of-control military operation is not strategy. It’s a recipe for a forever war.”
