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The House rejected a proposed change to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, a major bill that sets the budget and policy for the U.S. military.
This vote was on a proposed amendment to H.R. 3838, the primary legislation that authorizes funding and sets rules for the Department of Defense for the 2026 fiscal year. The underlying bill covers a wide range of national security priorities, including troop pay, the purchase of new aircraft and ships, and research into advanced technologies like artificial intelligence. In congressional terms, an amendment is a formal proposal to change the language of a bill. This vote determined whether the specific changes suggested by this amendment would be included in the final version of the bill. To succeed, the amendment needed a simple majority of the votes cast. The amendment failed to pass, meaning the suggested changes were not adopted. The opposition was broad and bipartisan, with nearly all Democrats and a significant majority of Republicans voting against the measure. Following this vote, the House continued to consider other amendments before taking a final vote on the entire defense bill.
The House proceeded to vote on other amendments and eventually held a final vote to pass the overall bill (H.R. 3838).
OPEN BILL →Why it matters. This vote was part of the annual process to define U.S. military priorities. While this specific change failed, the process determines how hundreds of billions of dollars are allocated for national defense.
Who’s affected. Department of Defense: The agency will follow the original guidelines in the bill rather than the modified rules proposed by this amendment.
Democrats. Democrats were unanimously opposed to the amendment, with all 213 present members voting no.
Republicans. Republicans were divided, but most opposed the change, with 60 voting yes and 158 voting no.
On Agreeing to the Amendment
Sep 10, 2025
The House rejected a proposed change to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, a major bill that sets the budget and policy for the U.S.
military.
Members of the House voted on whether to add a specific change to a larger bill. Because the 'no' votes outnumbered the 'yes' votes, the proposed change was rejected and the bill's text remained as it was before the vote.
The House proceeded to vote on other amendments and eventually held a final vote to pass the overall bill (H.R. 3838).
This vote was part of the annual process to define U.S. military priorities. While this specific change failed, the process determines how hundreds of billions of dollars are allocated for national defense.
The amendment was defeated by a large bipartisan coalition, with the majority of both parties voting against it.
Democrats were unanimously opposed to the amendment, with all 213 present members voting no.
Republicans were divided, but most opposed the change, with 60 voting yes and 158 voting no.
The single independent member voted against the amendment.