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The House Rules Committee has once again blocked the possibility of a full House vote on removing the unprecedented integration of the U.S. and Israeli military’s technological and industrial complexes from the $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget for 2027.
On Monday, the committee of amendments it deems “in order” to receive consideration on the House floor when the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) comes to a vote. Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Kentucky) amendment targeting the U.S.-Israeli integration was not on the list, meaning that the committee has barred it from being debated and voted on by the full House chamber.
Massie has vowed to vote to block the passage of the NDAA as a result of the omission.
“This week’s RULE will NOT allow a vote on my amendment to strip section 219 from the NDAA. We should not merge our military tech & supply chain with Israel’s,” said Massie in a post on social media. “I will vote AGAINST the RULE that allows the NDAA to come to the floor and AGAINST the NDAA.”
This is the second time in a month that the committee has barred full House consideration of Massie’s proposal, which was also backed by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) in the lawmakers’ attempt to introduce it in June. The House Armed Services Committee also rejected an attempt by Khanna to remove Section 219, then known as Section 224, from the NDAA earlier that month.
The amendment seeks to remove “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” known as Section 219, which would further entrench cooperation and integration between the two militaries at a time when the Israeli military is still committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
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The measure would give Israel access to the breadth of U.S. military and intelligence systems’ technology, information, and supply chain, while giving the U.S. very little in return. In fact, some experts have noted that it would actually restrict the U.S. in mandating the creation of an “executive agent” whose job is to ensure that the integration is carried out and maintained, and who has the power to overrule other Department of Defense officials in doing so.
The Rules Committee did include in its list two amendments by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) regarding Section 219, which are largely symbolic in nature. The first would require an annual report to Congress by the executive agent for as long as the initiative exists, instead of just ending the practice in 2030. The second would strike the word “integration” from the section, which would not substantially change the function of the amendment, only the wording.
Last week, 103 Democrats and Massie voted for the Republican lawmaker’s provision to strip the State Department funding legislation of a provision to send Israel $3.3 billion in military assistance. This was a notably high amount of support, signalling a shift away from full-throated support for Israel within the Democratic Party, but the amendment still overwhelmingly failed to pass, with 314 “no” votes, including 98 Democrats voting to reject it.
Some Senate Democrats are also waging efforts to strip the military budget of pro-Israel provisions. Six senators, led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), urged colleagues to block advancement of the NDAA until the integration program is removed.
Last week, the Senate did indeed block the advancement of the NDAA in a 50 to 46 vote largely along party lines, with some Democrats objecting to the U.S.-Israeli integration, and others voting “no” in protest of the Trump administration’s war on Iran.
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