Moulton Votes No on NDAA Passage in House Armed Services Committee, Citing Bloated Budget and Refusal to Enable Donald Trump and Reckless Pentagon Leadership

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During last night's House Armed Services Committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06) voted against final passage against the NDAA. Congressman Moulton was joined by several fellow Democratic veterans on the committee in opposing the measure.

Congressman Moulton issued the following statement regarding his decision to vote No on the NDAA:

"This year's NDAA carries a massive increase in the defense topline that only adds to an already-bloated defense budget. A Yes vote would also indicate tacit support for Pete Hegseth's reckless and dangerous leadership at the Pentagon and would bankroll Donald Trump's war of choice in Iran even further. I cannot support that.

"This budget claims to invest in the new, advanced technology our military needs to win future conflicts, but it flatly refuses to divest from the old technology in use at the same time. That is fiscally indefensible and strategically stupid. Every dollar we waste on maintaining outdated platforms is a dollar stolen from smarter, more efficient systems. We are burning through taxpayer money, personnel, and time by keeping our men and women in uniform on aging, obsolete platforms-like battleships-that only endanger them.

"The result is a Department of Defense that is larger, more expensive, and less capable. It's a boondoggle masquerading as a national security strategy. Add in Pete Hegseth's reckless and chaotic leadership at the Pentagon, and Trump's failed efforts to project American strength abroad-from his losing war in Iran to the threats he's made against NATO allies which isolate America even more-and a Yes vote on NDAA becomes indefensible. We cannot enable this administration any further.

"I want to put this budget in terms that every American understands: this budget would cost the average taxpayer an estimated $7,500 each. That is money out of the pockets of families already struggling with soaring gas prices, rising rent, crazy grocery bills, and gutted programs they depend on.

"Our troops deserve a defense budget built around what they actually need, not one that blindly increases spending and rubber-stamps a dangerous foreign policy that is raising costs across the board on Americans at home and endangering the lives of American troops abroad."