Republicans Advance Defense Bill that Abandons Our Allies, Undermines Our Military Readiness and Morale

WASHINGTON — During today’s House Appropriations Committee markup of the 2026 Defense funding bill, House Democrats fought against House Republicans’ bill that undermines democracy at home and abroad and includes harmful policy riders that divide our nation.

House Republicans’ Defense bill:

• Weakens Ukraine and empowers Russia by eliminating support for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
• Undermines democracy at home and abroad by allowing disinformation and extremist views to flourish.
• Limits women’s access to abortion by preventing service personnel from traveling to seek reproductive health care
• Harms our military readiness with divisive provisions that undermine morale and fail to support our service personnel, by:
  • Continuing DOGE and the Administration’s cuts to vital civilian positions;
  • Attacking the LGBTQ+ community with hateful policies; and
  • Banning funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

“For the first time in history, the White House is asking Congress to approve the Defense Appropriations Act without submitting the president’s full budget request. We still have no insight into the logic behind funding requests for major Department of Defense priorities like Golden Dome,” Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Betty McCollum (D-MN-04) said. “This bill also includes several poison pills, including a policy rider that would make it more difficult for service women and military families to receive reproductive healthcare, and provisions that offend and attack LGBTQ service members. These provisions must be removed in order for this bill to become law, just as they have been removed in the past. President Trump’s and Secretary Hegseth’s complete disregard for the standard procedure for developing the Defense Appropriations Act will have serious consequences for our military readiness.”

Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s full remarks are here.

“Through this bill, we have the grave and solemn responsibility of investing the funds necessary to defend our nation and to protect the safety and well-being of our men and women in uniform. But rather than working with House Democrats to strengthen our national security and prioritize the issues that matter most to our men and women in uniform, House Republicans are abandoning our allies, undermining democracy at home and abroad, and failing to support our servicemembers,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “Despite broad support in Congress for helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s brutal invasion, they empower Vladimir Putin by failing to include $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The bill continues House Republicans’ attacks on the right of women to seek an abortion, and the rights of minorities to be protected from discrimination. And the bill weakens the Department by continuing the Administration’s reckless and indiscriminate cuts to vital civilian personnel and yielding to DOGE and Elon Musk. I believe that we can come together and make critical improvements to this bill in support of our country’s defense and in support of our servicemembers.”

Congresswoman DeLauro’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are here.

Democrats offered a number of amendments that were all rejected by Republicans, including amendments to:

• Prevent the retrofit a plane that is a gift from a foreign government, like the Qatari 747 accepted by President Trump.
• Restore funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative
• Protect servicemembers’ access to reproductive health care.

A summary of House Republicans’ 2026 Defense bill is here. A fact sheet of the bill is here. 

The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. 

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