Vulnerable House Democrats Break With Party on Defense Bill

In this The Epoch Times article, Chase Smith reports that six vulnerable House Democrats broke with their party to vote with Republicans for the $1.15 trillion fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, prioritizing local defense projects and troop support over the Senate Democratic blockade tied to U.S. military action in Iran.

• The House passed the NDAA on July 22 by a 216–212 vote after six Democrats joined Republicans: Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.), Jared Golden (Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Adam Gray (Calif.), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.).
• All but Golden, who is not seeking reelection, appear on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Frontliners” list of incumbents in the most competitive seats essential to the party’s path to a majority.
• The vote came eight days after Senate Democrats unanimously blocked a procedural motion on their version of the bill, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer linking the opposition to President Trump’s resumed military strikes in Iran.
• None of the six House Democrats mentioned Iran in their public explanations; instead they highlighted district-specific wins such as shipbuilding funds, depot improvements, and military installation investments.
• Golden secured language barring foreign shipyard contracts and $1 billion for a second DDG-51 destroyer expected to be built at Bath Iron Works in Maine.
• Gonzalez authored provisions benefiting the Corpus Christi Army Depot and co-sponsored an amendment barring the Defense Department from procuring or selling seafood originating in or processed in China.
• Davis sponsored 31 provisions, including $89 million for a Fleet Readiness Center at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and support for an artificial-intelligence pilot program.
• Gluesenkamp Perez cited troop pay raises and right-to-repair language while arguing that abandoning the bill’s gains over the attached SAVE America Act would be a “pyrrhic victory.”
• House Republicans have attached the SAVE America Act, which requires voter ID and proof of citizenship, to several major bills; Senate Democrats oppose the measure, leaving the NDAA’s path forward uncertain.

Read the full story:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/vulnerable-house-democrats-break-with-party-on-defense-bill-6066253?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=TheLibertyDaily