Just a few years ago, the idea of voting against the National Defense Authorization Act would have been nearly unfathomable to me. For more than six decades, Congress understood that our national defense demanded serious, sober and bipartisan work. It still does. Even as Congress grew more divided, members of both parties tried to keep the NDAA focused on protecting our country and supporting our servicemembers. I have voted against the NDAA before, when partisan poison pills made a version of the bill impossible to support. But this year, my concerns go much deeper than any individual provision or poison pill amendment. 

Congress is being asked to entrust more than a trillion dollars, the strength of our military, and the lives of our servicemembers to an administration that has shown reckless disregard for all three. We do not have to speculate about how President Trump and Secretary Hegseth will use that power. We are watching them use it right now and it is a terrible sight to behold. We are nearly five months into an unlawful war with Iran that Congress never authorized and most Americans never wanted. The Trump Administration entered this war without a clear strategy, defined objectives or a credible plan to end it. The consequences are being felt across our country, including in the higher prices Americans are paying for gas and other necessities. 

But the cost is far greater for our military families. Hundreds of American servicemembers have been injured, and American lives have been lost. Sadly, I can’t tell you with any certainty if it’s 17, 19 or even more lives lost to date because the Pentagon is loathe to tell the American people the truth. While prosecuting this war poorly, Secretary Hegseth has also used his office to politicize the force, purge expertise, limit opportunities for qualified servicewomen and servicemembers of color, and substitute his own ideology for the professional military judgment our national security requires. Congress cannot claim to support our troops while giving their leaders money without limits, authority without oversight, and trust they have not earned. 

That is why I spent months trying to make this bill one I could support. I offered eleven oversight amendments to impose accountability, protect the professionalism of our force, defend the people who serve, and prevent the further politicization of our military. My Republican colleagues blocked every single one. Every. Single. One. They rejected the guardrails, and now they are asking us to approve the money anyway. 

To be clear, there are provisions in this bill that I support, including provisions I fought to secure. It makes investments our military needs and provides support our servicemembers deserve. I do not dismiss any of that, and I do not take this vote lightly. But the people entrusted to execute this bill have demonstrated that they are unworthy of unchecked trust, and Republicans have refused every opportunity to constrain them. 

Supporting our military does not require Congress to surrender its judgment to the people currently leading it. Our constitutional responsibility is not to rubber-stamp the Pentagon or bow to the demands of an unchecked Executive Branch. It is to provide for the common defense, protect the people who serve, and hold their leaders accountable. 

President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have not earned Congress’s confidence. I cannot and will not give them more money without accountability, more authority without restraint, or more opportunities to place American servicemembers at risk without a lawful mission and a coherent plan. Later today, with that responsibility in mind, I will vote no.