Congressman Ro Khanna demands removal of the U.S.–Israel military integration section from the defense budget

Democrat demands removal of Section 219 from the defense budget

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California on Monday urged his party to make removing Section 219 from the defense budget its 'number one priority' during the post-election congressional session known as the lame duck. 'As an American, I am furious about Section 219, which integrates our military with the Israeli one. Who do they think they are?' he said in a video address on the X platform, adding that he is pressing all Democrats and the party leadership to strike the section from the bill. Anadolu reported the news.

What Section 219 provides for

Section 219, titled the 'U.S.–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,' is part of the version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2027 passed by the House of Representatives. It requires the Secretary of Defense to appoint an 'executive agent' tasked with expanding and accelerating bilateral cooperation with Israel in the research, development, testing and evaluation of defense technologies, as well as in industrial cooperation.

Previous attempts to remove the section failed

This is not Khanna's first attempt to strip the provision from the bill. In June, the House Armed Services Committee rejected his amendment, when the section was numbered 224. The House Rules Committee then blocked a floor vote on a bipartisan amendment by Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie to remove the section. Nevertheless, the House passed the $1.15 trillion bill on July 22 by a vote of 216 to 212, with 205 Democrats voting against. The Senate version of the bill, which contains a similar provision, has not yet been adopted.

Context: aid cuts and a shift in public opinion

Khanna's call came after President Donald Trump said last week that the United States would stop providing roughly $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel by the end of this year, explaining that the aid had become 'a talking point' that Democrats use against Republicans. According to Anadolu, at the same time a Gallup poll showed that, for the first time since records began, more Americans sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis — following the two-year war in Gaza that, according to Palestinian figures, killed more than 74,000 people and left more than 175,000 wounded.