The US House of Representatives passed a $1.15tn defense policy bill in a near-party-line vote on Wednesday, after Democrats refused to back the measure amid the war with Iran and Donald Trump’s push to impose new restrictions on voting nationwide.
A key plank of the president’s plan to spend $1.5tn on the military in the 2027 fiscal year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed the Republican-controlled chamber by a 216-212 vote, with all but six Democrats opposing its passage. Seven House Republicans broke ranks to oppose the measure, which now goes to the Senate.
The NDAA is a mammoth bill with effects across the armed services, and Congress passes it each year with bipartisan margins. This year’s version includes pay raises of 5-7% for the military, as well as the codification of the name “Department of War” for the Pentagon. The bill’s large overall cost is itself a key feature, which top House Republicans say is necessary to make generational investments in the armed forces.
“For the first time in 40 years, we’ve been presented a budget that accounts for the true cost of American deterrence. This topline begins to reverse the damage caused by decades of underinvestment in the US military,” Mike Rogers, the House armed services committee chair, said before the vote.




When Elon Musk and his youthful Department of Government Efficiency warriors boasted of taking a “chainsaw” to the U.S. Agency for International Development, they did more than destroy a government agency. They violated the law by summarily firing USAID’s public servants while placing millions of people around the world in mortal danger.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapaty will become the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ending days of speculation amid the country’s deepening military leadership crisis.
Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, acknowledged on Tuesday he does not have the authority to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, but urged US federal authorities to do so if the Israeli prime minister visits the US later this year.
A federal appeals panel has reversed a lower court decision ordering the release of pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, opening the door to the re-arrest of a student protest organizer whom the Trump administration has spent more than a year trying to deport.





























