81 Democrats Vote With GOP for Military Budget Barring Gaza Death Toll Citations
On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly passed a $900 billion military budget in a bill that also bans the Pentagon from citing the official death toll from Israel’s genocide in Gaza and restricts health care for trans youth.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed 281 to 140, with 81 Democrats and nearly all Republicans voting “yes.” It sets aside $895 billion for military spending, largely going toward the Pentagon, which recently failed its seventh audit in a row and which works to sow violence and chaos across the world.
The legislation bars the Pentagon from citing the death toll from Israel’s genocide in Gaza as collected by the Gaza Ministry of Health, or other sources citing those casualty figures — despite experts having repeatedly found that the ministry’s death counts are accurate and, if anything, are a severe undercount due to limitations to tallying deaths in the besieged territory.
“This is an alarming erasure of the suffering of the Palestinian people, ignoring the human toll of ongoing violence,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) said in a statement on her “no” vote.
Others voting “no” include lawmakers like new Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Greg Casar (D-Texas), as well as other progressive members, like Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), Cori Bush (D-Missouri) and Summer Lee (D-Pennsylvania).
The provision’s inclusion is the latest attempt by pro-Israel members of Congress to deny and erase Israel’s genocide. In June, the House voted for an amendment to the State Department’s appropriations budget to bar the department from citing the Gaza Ministry of Health’s death toll. The measure passed 269 to 144, with 62 Democrats joining all but two Republicans to pass the amendment.
“There is so much anti-Palestinian racism in this chamber that my colleagues don’t even want to acknowledge that Palestinians exist at all,” Tlaib said at the time. “Not when they’re alive and now, not even when they’re dead. It’s absolutely disgusting. This is genocide denial.”
Many Democrats, including prominent establishment members like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), voted against the bill over language added at the last minute by Republicans to bar children of military members from receiving potentially life-saving gender affirming treatments.
The text of the bill specifies that it bars children from receiving “treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization.” This is a dangerous misrepresentation of gender-affirming care — but one that Republicans have been spreading in order to pass bans like this one. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has said that the intention is “permanently banning transgender medical treatment for minors” in military families, despite such treatment for minors not involving sterilization.
“While we’re glad many of the poison pill riders that were included in the House-passed version were ultimately removed from the final bill, the bill does include a ban on access to medically necessary health care for transgender children of service members, which will force service members to choose between serving their country and getting their children the care they need,” said Representatives Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin) and Barbara Lee (D-California) in a joint statement explaining their “no” votes.
The two lawmakers have never voted for an NDAA since being elected to Congress, and noted their opposition to spending such a large amount on the Pentagon while Congress neglects the needs of everyday Americans.
“Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home. Instead of fighting the rising cost of healthcare, gas, or groceries, this Congress prioritized rewarding the wealthy and well-connected Military Industrial Complex with even more unaccountable funds,” the lawmakers said.
The NDAA is awaiting a vote from the Senate, where Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has vowed to vote against it.
“We do not need to spend almost a trillion dollars on the military, while half a million Americans are homeless and children go hungry,” Sanders wrote in an op-ed this week.