Betty McCollum

06/10/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/10/2025 11:44

Ranking Member McCollum: House Democrats Expose How Republicans’ Defense Funding Bill Undermines Military Readiness

WASHINGTON - During today's House Appropriations subcommittee markup of the 2026 Defense funding bill, House Democrats highlighted how the bill undermines democracy at home and abroad and includes harmful policy riders that divide our nation.

For fiscal year 2026, the bill provides $831.5 billion, which is equal to current funding levels and $1.3 billion above the Administration's fiscal year 2026 request.

Republicans have included language directing the Department of Defense to determine $7.75 billion in cuts to amounts listed in the bill. This jeopardizes every program other than intelligence activities. If made uniformly, it would reduce everything by approximately 1 percent, which would mean cuts of almost $2 billion for troop pay, over $2 billion for troop readiness, $409 million for health programs, $5 million each for Israel and Jordan, and over $2 billion for the procurement and modernization of weapons systems. At a time when the Trump Administration is already illegally stealing from American communities by refusing to spend funds, it is unfathomable that the Appropriations Committee would allow the administration to unilaterally make nearly $8 billion in cuts to defense investments.

The legislation:

  • Weakens Ukraine and empowers Russia by eliminating support for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
  • Undermines democracy at home and abroad by allowing disinformation and extremist views to flourish.
  • Limits women's access to abortion by preventing service personnel from traveling to seek reproductive health care
  • Harms our military readiness with divisive provisions that undermine morale and fail to support our service personnel, by:
    • Continuing DOGE and the Administration's cuts to vital civilian positions;
    • Attacking the LGBTQ+ community with hateful policies; and
    • Banning funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

From Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Betty McCollum's (D-MN-04) opening remarksas prepared for delivery:

"The Defense Appropriations Act is an incredibly complex piece of legislation that needs to be written the right way: With the president's budget, and with thoughtful analysis by the Department of Defense. There are consequences to not following this process. We may end up buying too many of one platform, wasting precious taxpayer dollars. We may end up buying too little of another - leaving a gap in our defense capabilities. When we do not see the budget request, we fail to maximize the buying power for the taxpayer. It is unfortunate that President Trump put us in this situation. Our service members and America's tax paying public deserve better."

From Appropriations Committee Ranking Rosa DeLauro's (D-CT-03) opening remarksas prepared for delivery:

"Rather than working with House Democrats to strengthen our national security and prioritize the issues that matter most to our men and women in uniform, House Republicans are abandoning our allies, undermining democracy at home and abroad, and failing to support our servicemembers. Despite broad support in Congress for helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia's brutal invasion, they empower Vladimir Putin by failing to include $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The majority's bill holds the door open for disinformation created by America's enemies rather than allowing the Department of Defense to counter the threat, allowing extremism and propaganda to proliferate across the Internet and media landscape. The bill continues House Republicans' attacks on the right of women to seek an abortion, and the rights of minorities to be protected from discrimination, while destroying the Department's efforts to build a more inclusive, effective, and modern military. And the bill weakens the Department by continuing the Administration's reckless and indiscriminate cuts to vital civilian personnel, and yielding to DOGE and Elon Musk."

A summary of House Republicans' 2026 Defense bill is here. A fact sheet of the bill is here. The full text of the bill is here.

Betty McCollum published this content on June 10, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 10, 2025 at 17:44 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at support@pubt.io