The House Rules Committee has refused to allow a floor vote on a bipartisan amendment—sponsored by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY)—to strip Section 219 from the $1.15 trillion FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The committee released its “order” for the debate last night with the amendment quashed; floor debate on the bill begins today.
“This is unconscionable,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) declared in a video posted to social media on Tuesday. “They’re not even giving us a vote on the amendment.” He added, “Thomas and I will continue to fight to make sure we don’t compromise American sovereignty.”
Section 219—originally numbered Section 224—would establish a formal “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” requiring the Secretary of Defense to name a Pentagon “executive agent... responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, to expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.” Critics across the spectrum, from Khanna and Massie to Sen. Bernie Sanders, call it a step toward fusing the two countries’ militaries. The House Armed Services Committee had rejected Khanna’s effort to remove the provision during markup; the Rules Committee’s move now forecloses the remaining route to a floor vote.
