STATEMENT: Bell Votes NO on FY26 National Defense Authorization Act

Washington, D.C.- Today, U.S. Representative Wesley Bell (D-Mo.) released the following statement after voting NO on the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act:

"As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, we have spent the past nine months working on a bipartisan national defense bill that increases pay for our service members, strengthens defense acquisition, and safeguards our national security. However, the version of the bill on the floor did not include any meaningful Democratic amendments that address urgent threats to our security and to the integrity of our armed forces.

House Republicans are ignoring the serious abuses being done by the Trump Administration: deploying the military for domestic law enforcement, claiming unchecked power to define threats and launch military action, and politicizing the armed forces by dismissing qualified leaders who served with honor. It strips away inspectors general charged with rooting out waste and misconduct, sidelines senior military lawyers who uphold justice, and removes top experts in areas like cyber defense-all because they were deemed not loyal enough to Trump. Such actions weaken oversight, degrade readiness, and jeopardize our security.

Instead of advancing the bipartisan bill that left committee with overwhelming support-House Republicans have kneeled to Trump and turned a bipartisan bill into one that is filled with culture war filled topics. For those reasons, I voted NO."

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