{"id":481,"date":"2026-06-16T22:39:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=481"},"modified":"2026-06-16T22:39:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:39:25","slug":"democrats-make-moves-to-rein-in-trumps-defense-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=481","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Make Moves to Rein in Trump\u2019s Defense Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Democrats are getting more comfortable saying \u2018no\u2019 to the Pentagon, eroding a long-standing bipartisan tradition of supporting ever-larger defense budgets.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s \u2018American Flag Blue\u2019 Reflecting Pool is Green With Algae<\/a><\/p>\n

The shift is showing up across Capitol Hill as Democrats mobilize a midterm message that casts President Donald Trump\u2019s priorities as out of step with voters\u2019 needs. On Tuesday, progressive Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts unveiled legislation that would cap the fiscal 2027 defense budget at $750 billion \u2014 days after his primary challenger, Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran and House Armed Services Committee member, proposed cutting $150 billion from the House defense bill. <\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is pushing for painful cuts to health care, to education, to housing programs,\u201d Markey, flanked by antiwar advocates, said Tuesday at a press conference. \u201cWe must turn that formula in our country upside down. Year after year, military spending continues to increase, while investments in working and middle-class people are being denied.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democratic lawmakers\u2019 moves stand little chance of changing defense policy. Markey\u2019s bill is unlikely to pass, and Moulton\u2019s amendment failed in committee. But they reflect a shift inside the party, where Trump\u2019s war in Iran and pursuit of a $1.5 trillion defense budget while cutting social programs is making it harder for Democrats to support increases that once drew broad bipartisan backing. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe connection between militarized spending and human-needs spending has been made much more visible,\u201d said Savannah Wooten, the \u201cPeople Over Pentagon\u201d advocate at Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization.<\/p>\n

The fight over defense spending comes as Democrats have adopted a more confrontational posture<\/u><\/span> on national security issues more broadly, opposing bipartisan surveillance legislation, demanding votes on war powers, and increasingly using procedural tools to challenge Trump\u2019s military and intelligence policies.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats say they\u2019re not willing to cooperate as readily on defense matters when Republicans block hearings and votes on the administration\u2019s use of the military.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the politics has changed,\u201d said Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz. \u201cI think their number is absurd. If they stuck to a reasonable number, and if they allowed us a vote on the authorization of the use of military force, we\u2019d be having a different conversation \u2026 It\u2019s very easy to get to \u2018no\u2019 even for those of us who normally vote \u2018yes\u2019 on the National Defense Authorization Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Democrats Prep for Shrinking Southern Delegations<\/a><\/p>\n

That resistance is showing up in congressional votes.<\/p>\n

On the House Armed Services Committee this month, a dozen Democrats voted against the panel\u2019s version of the NDAA. Moulton\u2019s failed amendment to cut $150 billion from the bill attracted support from 25 Democrats.<\/p>\n

More Democrats voted against this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act in the Senate Armed Services Committee last week than voted for it. Among the opponents were centrist Sens. Mark Kelly<\/u><\/span> of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan \u2014 whose national profiles are centered on their national security backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine \u2014 who said Tuesday that he has filed a two-page dissenting opinion on the SASC-passed NDAA \u2014 argued the country is now \u201cin a completely different moment\u201d than when SASC last year advanced its NDAA in a 26-1 vote. <\/p>\n

The Trump administration has sought more money and less oversight from Congress, Kaine noted, as it has waged the Iran war and used military action against Venezuela and boats in the Caribbean that Pentagon officials say are carrying drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo swell the defense budget without meaningful checks on an administration that shows they want to end-run Congress, including going to war without Congress, that was just too much for me to bear,\u201d Kaine said.<\/p>\n

Whether lawmakers oppose the NDAA when it comes to the floor for an expected December vote is uncertain. Slotkin said she would not rule it out and argued she faced a \u201ctough vote\u201d because of the bill\u2019s inclusion of $200 million to build a new F-15EX hangar at her state\u2019s Selfridge Air National Guard Base and $4.4 million to a training center at Camp Grayling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had two days of negotiation and conversation, and didn\u2019t talk about the cost of the Iran war, when we all know that\u2019s the elephant in the room,\u201d Slotkin said in a brief interview. \u201cSo, what\u2019s the bill on that? When\u2019s that coming? That should affect us when we\u2019re talking about a trillion-dollar budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Feds Say Thwarted UFC Attack Involved Snipers and Exploding Drones<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers are beginning to push back on increasing defense budgets, an issue that has long enjoyed bipartisan support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-democrats"],"yoast_head":"\nDemocrats Make Moves to Rein in Trump\u2019s Defense Spending - 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=481\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Democrats Make Moves to Rein in Trump\u2019s Defense Spending - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lawmakers are beginning to push back on increasing defense budgets, an issue that has long enjoyed bipartisan support.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=481\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T22:39:25+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=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Democrats Make Moves to Rein in Trump\u2019s Defense Spending\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T22:39:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481\"},\"wordCount\":755,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2a8accf7be02a136bd18bf786b67393a-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Democrats\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481\",\"name\":\"Democrats Make Moves to Rein in Trump\u2019s Defense Spending - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2a8accf7be02a136bd18bf786b67393a-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T22:39:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=481#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2a8accf7be02a136bd18bf786b67393a-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2a8accf7be02a136bd18bf786b67393a-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1708,\"caption\":\"U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) speaks alongside other Senate Democrats during a press conference in the U.S. Capitol building on December 17, 2025 in Washington, D.C. 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