WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) released the following statement after voting against passage of H.R. H.R. 8800, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27 NDAA).
“The annual defense authorization bill is a critically important piece of legislation and it has continued the committee’s focus on pay and compensation, housing, health care, childcare, education, and support for civilian personnel. It advances our bipartisan work on acquisition reform. It included several key Democrats’ priorities, like collective bargaining rights protections for Department of Defense (DoD) civilian employees, reversing Secretary Hegseth’s naming of certain military installations, authorizing health care coverage for assisted reproductive technologies for service members and their dependents, and requiring transparency on the Minab girls school bombing investigation, the costs of Trump’s war of choice against Iran, and the ongoing boat strikes and military operations in SOUTHCOM.
“I have an enormous amount of respect for congressional process and the fair and bipartisan product that we’ve passed out the Armed Services Committee for over 60 years. Our national security and national defense are crucial components of our country’s success. The United States clearly faces adversaries that we need to deter, and military might can’t do the job alone. We must have strong, clearheaded diplomacy and work with partners and allies to build a strong defense. This committee continues to focus on those core needs and the duty of Congress to provide for the national defense and work with allies and friends for the benefit of global stability.
“The problem is the $1.6 trillion price tag—a 60 percent increase in the defense budget at a time when our country is running a nearly $2 trillion deficit. Our country faces threats and DoD has modernization needs, but I will not support making massive cuts to critically important domestic programs and slashing taxes to meet those needs. We need to be more fiscally responsible and DoD needs to become more innovative and efficient. We need to develop a realistic national security strategy and approach that doesn’t require a $1.15 trillion discretionary budget request and another partisan budget reconciliation process that includes an additional $60 to $350 billion for defense.
“As passed on the House floor today, this bill has been loaded with toxic, partisan amendments that continue the rightwing culture war assault on the LGBTQ+ community and preempt state and local laws under the guise of military readiness. Furthermore, no democratic amendments were made in order to even allow debate on serious issues. We should be debating the massive trillion-dollar spending spree; Trump’s disastrous and deadly war against Iran and boat strike campaign in the Caribbean and Pacific, and his vanity battleship. Congress should be talking about domestic deployments of the military against fellow Americans; defending free press, speech, and elections; and the need to safeguard against ethical violations and blatant corruption committed by the Trump Administration.
“Though I voted against floor passage today, I remain committed to working with my colleagues across the aisle and in the Senate in the coming year to ensure that we remain focused on the core priorities needed for a strong, efficient, and effective national defense.”
“The annual defense authorization bill is a critically important piece of legislation and it has continued the committee’s focus on pay and compensation, housing, health care, childcare, education, and support for civilian personnel. It advances our bipartisan work on acquisition reform. It included several key Democrats’ priorities, like collective bargaining rights protections for Department of Defense (DoD) civilian employees, reversing Secretary Hegseth’s naming of certain military installations, authorizing health care coverage for assisted reproductive technologies for service members and their dependents, and requiring transparency on the Minab girls school bombing investigation, the costs of Trump’s war of choice against Iran, and the ongoing boat strikes and military operations in SOUTHCOM.
“I have an enormous amount of respect for congressional process and the fair and bipartisan product that we’ve passed out the Armed Services Committee for over 60 years. Our national security and national defense are crucial components of our country’s success. The United States clearly faces adversaries that we need to deter, and military might can’t do the job alone. We must have strong, clearheaded diplomacy and work with partners and allies to build a strong defense. This committee continues to focus on those core needs and the duty of Congress to provide for the national defense and work with allies and friends for the benefit of global stability.
“The problem is the $1.6 trillion price tag—a 60 percent increase in the defense budget at a time when our country is running a nearly $2 trillion deficit. Our country faces threats and DoD has modernization needs, but I will not support making massive cuts to critically important domestic programs and slashing taxes to meet those needs. We need to be more fiscally responsible and DoD needs to become more innovative and efficient. We need to develop a realistic national security strategy and approach that doesn’t require a $1.15 trillion discretionary budget request and another partisan budget reconciliation process that includes an additional $60 to $350 billion for defense.
“As passed on the House floor today, this bill has been loaded with toxic, partisan amendments that continue the rightwing culture war assault on the LGBTQ+ community and preempt state and local laws under the guise of military readiness. Furthermore, no democratic amendments were made in order to even allow debate on serious issues. We should be debating the massive trillion-dollar spending spree; Trump’s disastrous and deadly war against Iran and boat strike campaign in the Caribbean and Pacific, and his vanity battleship. Congress should be talking about domestic deployments of the military against fellow Americans; defending free press, speech, and elections; and the need to safeguard against ethical violations and blatant corruption committed by the Trump Administration.
“Though I voted against floor passage today, I remain committed to working with my colleagues across the aisle and in the Senate in the coming year to ensure that we remain focused on the core priorities needed for a strong, efficient, and effective national defense.”
###