Top Democrat on House Armed Services Readiness, Rep. Garamendi, Statement on House Passage of FY26 NDAA

WASHINGTON, DC - This week, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-08), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, issued the following statement regarding today's passage of the rule for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026:

"While I am proud of the work we've done, I cannot in good conscience support this year's NDAA," said Rep. Garamendi. "I am disappointed that my Republican colleagues have chosen the partisan path to empower President Trump's authoritarian tendencies. I am alarmed at the bill's erosion of fiscal discipline and constitutional boundaries. Programs like the nuclear Sentinel program have ballooned out of control, while taxpayer dollars are being spent to retrofit a luxury jet for President Trump. My concerns range from these programs being a waste of taxpayer dollars to blatant corruption."

"I am also deeply concerned about the misuse of our military for immigration and law enforcement. President Trump has ordered deportation flights using C-17s and C-130s at ten times the cost of standard DHS flights. Not only is this wrong, it's fiscally indefensible. These aircraft were built for combat, not domestic law enforcement."

"And this is not an isolated incident. President Trump has also misused our military by deploying 7,600 troops, including from some of our most combat-ready forces like the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) or 10th Mountain Division, to the southern border. These are some of our most prepared forces, and draining their readiness for political theater is reckless, dangerous, and leaves America less prepared for real emergencies."

"Taken together, these actions reveal a disturbing pattern. From Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, President Trump has turned our military into a political weapon. And now, this bill hands him even more money to use the military for his own personal goals, marching our country towards a police state."

"While I supported this bill in committee, working in a bipartisan way to address these and many other issues, the final version has been poisoned by Republican colleagues more interested in scoring political points than protecting our nation. Our defense policy should reflect accountability, readiness, and stewardship-not vanity projects, fiscal recklessness, or political grandstanding. For these reasons and more, I cannot in good conscience support this bill as amended."

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