The U.S. House of Representatives on July 22 passed the $1.15 trillion FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 216 to 212, with Section 219—the provision to permanently integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries—left intact. The bill now goes to the Senate, which carries its own version of the merger as Section 1217.
Section 219 would establish a “U.S.-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” directing the Pentagon to fuse bilateral work across missile and air defense, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, autonomous systems, directed-energy weapons, cyber, electronic warfare, and biotechnology. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), who have led the fight against the measure, sought to strike it, but their amendment was blocked from a floor vote by the Rules Committee. Massie called Section 219 “an unprecedented escalation of foreign involvement in our military.” Khanna put it more bluntly: “It’s about American sovereignty. It’s shocking that this even has to be explained.”
