Chuck Schumer Torpedoes NDAA, Aided and Abated by Arizona Senators Gallego and Kelly

On June 11, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved S4784, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with bipartisan support. However, on July 14 the full Senate failed to raise the 60 votes needed to advance the NDAA. The vote was 50 to 46, along party lines.

The effort was led by Chuck Schumer of New York, who succeeded in convincing all Democrat senators, including Arizona’s Gallego and Kelly, to vote against advancing NDAA. The NO vote by the Arizona delegation is particularly puzzling because both Gallego and Kelly are in the habit of claiming staunch support for our military. In fact, the whole effort to undermine national defense is hard to understand, as illustrated by the following statement made by Schumer on the Senate floor during the discussion:

“Now the White House has formally notified Congress that hostilities have resumed, that American strikes are under way again and our forces remain positioned for more. Yet Republicans want the Senate to take up the NDAA, the defense bill, as though none of this is happening.”

In fact, it is precisely because Iran’s actions have caused hostilities to resume that it behooves all members of the Senate to present a united front in support the war effort. This move by Schumer and his fellow Democrats will only serve to embolden Iran and cause the conflict to take longer to resolve.

Some of the grievances expressed by opponents of the NDAA and given as reasons for undermining the bill are as follows:

The balance between defense and non-defense spending levels

Ever since there has been a United States, there had been a battle involving military versus non-military spending. Even though the number one role of the federal government should be the common defense, that battle has been going on for 250 years and will continue for the foreseeable future.

Trump’s failure to seek permission from Congress to pursue the Iran war

There is a difference of opinion here. Trump thinks that he is still within his right to pursue the war without permission from Congress, but some in Congress disagree and have given that disagreement as a reason for opposing the NDAA.

Getting too cozy with Israel

Some in Congress, and elsewhere, are concerned that the U. S. is sharing too much technology with Israel and go as far as to claim that the U. S. is ceding is sovereignty to Israel. Those who support this notion feel that opposing NDAA is a proper way to stop their perceived sell-out to Israel.

Regardless of whether the foregoing grievances are valid or not, the time to address them is not when doing so would undermine our military’s ability to do its job, especially when they are engaged in a serious conflict, such as that with Iran.