This week, five House Democrats joined Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to approve a $150 billion defense spending increase for fiscal year 2025, advancing President Trump’s budget plan, dubbed his “megabill.”
The committee voted 35-21 to approve its part of Trump’s far-reaching budget framework, which pairs tax cuts with sharp reductions in programs like Medicaid and food stamps. If it becomes law, the defense boost would push annual defense spending above $1 trillion for the first time, though total national security spending has topped this threshold for years.
The five Democrats who supported the $150 billion defense increase were, in order of seniority, Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, Don Davis of North Carolina, George Whitesides of California, and Eugene Vindman of Virginia, with the latter two being freshmen.
The votes of the five run counter to the positions of their Democratic colleagues on the panel, who said in a statement that boosting defense spending should not come at the expense of cuts to social programs and the Department of Education. It also runs against Democratic congressional leaders’ calls for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s resignation amid concerns over his leadership and security malpractice.
The committee’s Democrats introduced more than 20 amendments to the bill, including one from ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) to withhold 75% of the new funding until the Pentagon devises a new plan to keep classified information from being shared outside of approved systems. All Democratic amendments were rejected, mostly on party-line votes of 29-26.
