Gottheimer votes against House defense bill despite securing national security provisions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., voted against the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act after the House added provisions from the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act and other policy riders to the annual defense measure.
Despite opposing the final bill, Gottheimer said he successfully secured several bipartisan provisions that were included in the legislation before it passed the House.
“I’ll always work across the aisle to get things done for our service members, our national security, and to protect Jersey families. I’m proud of the bipartisan wins I fought to include in this bill,” Gottheimer said. “But, I was furious that the far right jammed in unrelated, partisan provisions from the SAVE Act along with anti-LGBTQ+ provisions. America’s families and our national security deserve better than to be used as a vehicle for a partisan agenda. That’s why I could not support this bill in its current form and will fight to get these provisions removed in the final version as it heads to the Senate.”
According to Gottheimer’s office, the provisions he secured include:
- $100 million for the U.S.-Israel Anti-Killer Drone Act of 2026 to combat drone attacks from Iran and its proxies.
- An additional $5 million for the Department of Defense SkillBridge program to help service members transition to civilian careers.
- An additional $5 million for the National Defense Education Program to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and workforce initiatives for military students.
- A requirement that U.S. officials advocate against enforcement of International Criminal Court warrants targeting allied militaries.
- Enhanced U.S.-Israel-Egypt cooperation to strengthen security along the Gaza-Egypt border and prevent weapons smuggling by Hamas.
- A requirement for the Department of Defense to assess antisemitism at military service academies.
- A prohibition on the use of Chinese monitoring technology on Department of Defense-owned or leased rail cars.
“These are commonsense priorities that protect our troops and our allies, crack down on antisemitism at our service academies, and invest in education and workforce training for our military families,” Gottheimer continued. “I fought hard to include provisions that will improve our national security and quality of life for our troops, and I’ll keep fighting to see them enacted. But, I am disappointed that they were paired with partisan poison pills that have no business in a national defense bill.”
The National Defense Authorization Act now moves to the Senate for consideration.
