Half Of NJ House Members Vote Against Huge Military Spending Bill

NEW JERSEY — Half of New Jersey’s U.S. House members voted against the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025, although “culture war” amendments may have played a role in their decision.

On Wednesday, the House voted 281-140 in favor of this year’s massive military spending bill, which comes to $895 billion. It now heads to the Senate for a vote, and then potentially to the desk of President Joe Biden.

The NDAA got “yes” votes from Josh Gottheimer, Tom Kean Jr., Mikie Sherrill, Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew.

The bill got “no” votes from LaMonica McIver, Robert Menendez Jr., Donald Norcross, Frank Pallone Jr. and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

Two of New Jersey’s seats in the House are currently vacant: the 3rd District and the 9th District.

Congress rolls out a new NDAA bill each year to establish defense priorities, make organizational shifts to military posture, and provide direction on how military funding can be spent. The “must pass” legislation typically sees several changes and amendments before a final version is agreed upon by the Senate and House of Representatives. Separate appropriations bills with matching dollar figures must also be passed for the increases to become a reality.

The House and Senate have greenlighted the bill every year for more than six consecutive decades. Last year, the NDAA got “yes” votes from eight of 12 House members in the Garden State. Read More: Here’s Who Supported Massive US Military Budget In NJ For 2024

There have been both cheers and jeers for the current levels of military spending from New Jersey lawmakers.

Some say that a well-funded NDAA strengthens national security, supports servicemembers and creates jobs. But critics question whether the nation’s rising military budget is a good use of taxpayer money at a time when every penny counts.

Among other expenses, this year’s bill authorizes $850 billion for the base Pentagon budget and another $33.5 billion for nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department.

The bill includes a 14.5 percent pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5 increase for other military members. It authorizes $143.8 billion in research, development, test, and evaluation to meet “immediate and projected force protection challenges,” $17.5 billion for science and technology programs, $33.5 billion in shipbuilding funding and for the procurement of seven battle force ships.

The bill also includes several provisions aimed at improving the U.S. military’s response to potential drone threats at its installations. See Related: ‘Drone Mothership’ Update, New Reporting Protocols Released In NJ

Read the joint explanatory statement for the 2025 NDAA here.

Several officials and others affiliated with the Picatinny Enhancement Coalition recently made a visit to Washington D.C. to speak with Reps. Sherrill and Kean and highlight the impact that the Picatinny Arsenal plays in national defense. The facility is the third-largest employer in Morris County, and has executed $122 million in New Jersey contracts over the past five years, the coalition said.

Despite voting against the bill, Rep. Norcross said it includes “several key national defense priorities” for South Jersey, including $105 million to purchase CH-47F Block II Program aircraft, which will be manufactured by South Jersey workers.

Other New Jersey lawmakers have been more critical of the vast amounts of taxpayer money that the United States spends on its military.

Rep. Watson Coleman, who voted against the bill on Wednesday, was a critic of last year’s vote, saying that it represented “yet another year of wasteful, irresponsible, unaccountable Defense spending.”

“$886 billion dollars could go a long way toward improving the lives of everyday working people,” the congresswoman wrote. “The people's basic needs must come first.”

This viewpoint was reiterated by Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, who posted the following comment about his "no" vote on the 2025 bill:

THE CULTURE WAR

Since it is considered a “must-pass” bill, the NDAA has become a popular venue to attach riders and amendments, not all of which are directly related to national defense.

This year’s bill included a particularly thorny language that restricts gender-affirming medical care for transgender children of military members – which saw pushback from many Democratic lawmakers.

Rep. Sherrill (NJ-11) – a former Navy helicopter pilot who sits on the House Armed Services Committee – voted against a previous version of the spending plan in June, citing a “wish list of culture-war attacks on women, LGBTQ+, Black and Brown service members” championed by “MAGA extremists.” Read More: 'Culture War' Amendments Weigh Down US Military Bill, NJ Lawmaker Says

Despite her misgivings, Sherrill eventually voted in favor of the final version of the bill.

“This year’s NDAA supports our military readiness, our service members and protects our national defense,” the congresswoman said, noting that it raises wages for young service members – some of whom have reportedly been relying on food stamps to make ends meet.

“However, I am disgusted that after the election Republicans immediately pursued their extreme culture war agenda in the NDAA,” Sherrill continued. “This amendment flies in the face of a bipartisan NDAA which was supposed to focus on quality of life for service members and their families.”

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, a Democrat who also serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said the bill contains many positive aspects – but it was poisoned by extremism.

“As I said a few days ago, blanketly denying health care to people who need it—just because of a biased notion against transgender people—is wrong,” Smith commented, explaining his “no” vote.

On the other side of the aisle, House speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, defended the culture war amendments that made it into the bill.

“We banned Tricare from prescribing treatments that would ultimately sterilize our kids, and we gutted the DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] bureaucracy,” Johnson said, adding that lawmakers also “stopped funds from going to CRT [critical race theory] in our military academies.”

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