{"id":1126,"date":"2026-07-14T22:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1126"},"modified":"2026-07-14T22:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:12:19","slug":"senate-democrats-filibuster-defense-bill-to-protest-iran-war-and-budget-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1126","title":{"rendered":"Senate Democrats Filibuster Defense Bill to Protest Iran War and Budget Hike"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked an effort to begin debate on the annual defense policy bill, raising fresh doubts about whether Congress can quickly resolve fights over the Iran war and military spending.<\/p>\n

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The Senate voted 50-46 along party lines to proceed to the National Defense Authorization Act, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance. The failed vote leaves one of Congress\u2019 most reliable annual bills stalled.<\/p>\n

Filibustering the must-pass bill reflects intense Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump\u2019s wars. Even national security-minded Democrats, who typically support annual defense bills, balked at providing what they view as a blank check for a conflict Congress never approved.<\/p>\n

The NDAA authorizesmilitary pay, weapons programs and Pentagon policy. Congress has enacted it every year for more than six decades, usually with broad bipartisan support. Democrats, especially those from states that host military installations and defense industry jobs, typically vote in favor of the bill \u2014 but some believe the politics have shifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are really frustrated and angry about the Iran war, and the NDAA has become a referendum on the war because Trump has refused to come to us as he\u2019s required to do,\u201d Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), whose state hosts submarine and military helicopter construction facilities, told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

Virginia hosts a major Navy and defense industry presence, and one of its senators, Democrat Tim Kaine, said he\u2019d never voted against an NDAA \u2014 yet he and most Senate Armed Services Committee Democrats objected<\/u><\/span> to the bill. Kaine is also a staunch advocate for Congress\u2019 power to declare \u2014 and end \u2014 wars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not take up an NDAA that does not include some significant discussion about a war that Congress has now declared is illegal,\u201d Kaine said. \u201cBoth houses, under Republican majority, have said this war is illegal, and so I don\u2019t see us, just now, turning a blind eye to that with respect to the NDAA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s vote isn\u2019t the end for the bill. The NDAA typically passes later in the year, giving Senate leaders enough time to try again after negotiating an agreement on whichamendments receive floor votes or making other concessions to win Democratic votes. The looming August recess means there\u2019s a narrow legislative runway to get the bill done, raising the chances that lawmakers would have to finish it in the weeks before the November midterms or after, in the lame-duck session.<\/p>\n

Democrats had several objections, the renewed Iran war being chief among them. The U.S. resumed major strikes after the collapse of a ceasefire over the weekend, renewing Democratic concerns about the Trump administration\u2019s strategy, the cost of the operation and Congress\u2019 limited role in shaping it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Senate cannot authorize $1.14 trillion in defense spending \u2014 the largest defense budget ever proposed in our nation\u2019s history \u2014 for Donald Trump to continue his illegal and disastrous war that Americans do not want,\u201d Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), a combat veteran, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be viewed as an authorization for the war,\u201d said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), adding that it would be \u201cinsane\u201d to allow a war that\u2019s \u201cspiraling out of control\u201d to continue.<\/p>\n

The defense topline is another flashpoint.<\/p>\n

Through several pieces of legislation, Trump is seeking $1.5 trillion \u2014 a sharp increase over current levels \u2014 in military spending for fiscal year 2027. Democrats have argued that the increase is difficult to justify while the administration is proposing deep cuts to domestic programs.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI voted against it in committee because the topline on this thing is just ridiculous,\u201d said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona).<\/p>\n

Some Republicans were livid that they had drafted a bill with Democrats and offered a manager\u2019s package of preapproved amendments they hoped would appeal to Democrats, to no avail. They accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of pursuing a broader political agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unprecedented not to proceed to a bill, particularly when we\u2019re negotiating managers\u2019 packages including dozens and dozens of bipartisan amendments,\u201d Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) told NOTUS. Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, the panel\u2019s No. 2 Republican, accused Schumer of fomenting a government shutdown ahead of the November midterms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad because we are a committee on Armed Services that used to work in a bipartisan way so we could take care of our military and be able to defend this country, and they\u2019re putting that in jeopardy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But Schumer has accused Republicans of failing to forge an agreement with Democrats to balance defense and nondefense spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing normal about putting forward a lopsided proposal that shuts down bipartisan input and jams through one-sided bills that shortchange families, prolong a war, and shield corruption,\u201d Schumer wrote in a letter to his caucus.<\/p>\n

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) said Democratic obstruction pushes Republicans toward a party-line reconciliation bill<\/u><\/span> that skirts the filibuster to boost defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the outcomes,\u201d Cramer said. \u201cThat\u2019s what often happens when people overplay their hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

When there has been a Senate impasse in past years, lawmakers have reconciled a House-passed version of the annual bill with the version passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee. Congress typically takes up a compromise bill before the end of the calendar year.<\/p>\n

The path forward this week will likely depend on whether Republicans agree to enough amendment votes to bring Democrats back on board.<\/p>\n

The failed vote is an even more troubling sign for Trump\u2019s nearly $88 billion emergency funding request, which is tied more directly to the war and would also need Democratic support to clear the Senate.<\/p>\n

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The failed vote leaves one of Congress\u2019 most reliable annual bills stalled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"yoast_head":"\nSenate Democrats Filibuster Defense Bill to Protest Iran War and Budget Hike - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1126\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senate Democrats Filibuster Defense Bill to Protest Iran War and Budget Hike - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The failed vote leaves one of Congress\u2019 most reliable annual bills stalled.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1126\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T22:12:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Senate Democrats Filibuster Defense Bill to Protest Iran War and Budget Hike\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-14T22:12:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126\"},\"wordCount\":983,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d1015f041deada3dec36dbaef1c47906-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Congress\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126\",\"name\":\"Senate Democrats Filibuster Defense Bill to Protest Iran War and Budget Hike - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d1015f041deada3dec36dbaef1c47906-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-14T22:12:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1126#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d1015f041deada3dec36dbaef1c47906-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d1015f041deada3dec36dbaef1c47906-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Sen. 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