Sherrill Blasts GOP After Debt Battle Derails Military Spending Bill

NEW JERSEY — A standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling has put an important national military spending bill on ice. And according to a Democratic congresswoman from New Jersey, the “right-wing agenda” of her Republican peers is to blame.

On Wednesday, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released a scathing statement that slammed GOP leadership after the House Armed Services Committee announced an indefinite delay to its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024. It was scheduled to begin Thursday.

Federal lawmakers hammer out a new version of the NDAA every year, which lays out defense priorities and provides guidance on how military funding can be spent. It 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.

Congress has greenlighted the bill every year for more than six decades, and it typically sees support from all but a handful of dissenters in New Jersey.

• See Related: 4 NJ Lawmakers Vote Against Record-High US Military Spending Bill
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According to Sherrill, the delay of this year’s NDAA markup is a direct result of the ongoing stalemate between the Republican-controlled House and their peers in the Democratic Party over the national debt ceiling.

The debt limit does not authorize new spending commitments. It only allows the government to finance existing legal obligations that Congress and presidents have made in the past.

House Republicans passed a bill last month that would raise the debt limit– something that has been done 78 times since 1960, both under Republican and Democrat presidents. But it would only happen in exchange for sweeping spending cuts, including sharp reductions in "discretionary" spending on social programs, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate – including Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey – have pledged that the GOP offer is dead on arrival in that chamber, which they still control.

“The extreme House Republican’s Default on America bill is wildly unpopular and has no path forward in the Senate,” Menendez said. “This radical legislation would slash health care, cause significant job losses, increase crime, lead to higher prices, and cause unnecessary harm to working families, veterans, and seniors all while hurting our national security and shipping jobs to China.”

• Read More: Chaos? Kumbaya? How The Debt Limit Standoff Might End

Menendez’s feelings about the GOP offer to raise the debt limit were reciprocated by Sherrill.

“House and Senate Republican leaders are putting partisan politics and a right-wing agenda above our national security, military readiness, and the wellbeing of our servicemembers,” said Sherrill, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot who serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

The congresswoman blamed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for indefinitely delaying consideration of the NDAA, which she called the “legislative linchpin” of U.S. national security.

“This delay in consideration doesn’t come in response to intelligence about a pressing new threat,” Sherrill said. “It isn’t even the result of serious policy disagreements about the direction of the Department. This move is the result of House Republican leadership’s irresponsible attitude toward the debt ceiling.”

“Enough is enough,” Sherrill concluded. “House and Senate Republican leaders must stop using the Department to further their extreme agenda. It’s time to pass a debt ceiling increase, confirm military leaders in the Senate and move forward with the NDAA.”

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