House Narrowly Passes $1.15 Trillion Defense Policy Bill

On Wednesday, July 22, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a defense policy bill authorizing approximately $1.15 trillion in national security spending, a figure described as historic and requested by President Donald Trump. The vote passed narrowly, 216-212, with six Democrats voting for the bill and seven Republicans voting against it, reflecting a departure from the bill's traditionally bipartisan passage. The legislation includes a provision to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War. The bill also contains Section 219, a provision addressing U.S.-Israel defense cooperation, which drew a bipartisan coalition of opposition and produced contentious debate on the House floor, including remarks characterized as accusations of "stoking Jew hatred." Some Democrats who broke from past practice to vote against the bill cited dissent related to the war in Iran as a factor in their opposition. The measure next proceeds toward reconciliation with the Senate's version before final passage can occur, though the timeline and specifics of that process were not detailed in available reporting. Material disagreement exists in how the vote and its context were framed: some reports centered on the unusual break from bipartisan norms and defense spending tensions tied to Iran, while other coverage emphasized the Department of War renaming or the Israel-related Section 219 dispute as the most significant element of the bill's passage. Additional bill contents, such as expanded defense production capacity, were referenced but not corroborated in detail across multiple sources. The Senate's timeline for taking up the bill and the eventual fate of Section 219 remain unresolved.