House Republicans Push War Funding and Voter Suppression as Session Ends
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In a final display of militarism and anti-democratic maneuvering before their summer break, House Republicans passed a $95 billion Iran war-funding bill and a defense budget laced with voting restrictions, facing internal fractures and resistance from the Senate.
House Republicans, doubling down on endless war and voter suppression, approved a $95 billion budget proposal that funnels taxpayer money into what Rep. Jodey Arrington euphemistically called 'baseline battlefield readiness' for U.S. involvement in Iran. The bill, passed strictly along party lines, avoided even acknowledging the war, reflecting a lack of transparency and accountability. Alongside this, Republicans advanced a sweeping defense spending bill and attached provisions designed to restrict voting rights, continuing their assault on democratic participation.
Speaker Mike Johnson boasted that the votes proved major legislation could be forced through in an election year, declaring, 'We just proved you wrong.' Yet, cracks appeared immediately as four Republicans broke ranks to join Democrats in passing a symbolic resolution urging President Trump to withdraw troops from Iran—a move Johnson derided as an 'embarrassing defeat,' revealing the deep unease even within GOP ranks about reckless military escalation.
In the Senate, Republican leader John Thune stalled the House budget, signaling that the final amount for the Iran operation remains unresolved, at least until September. The Senate also delayed the National Defense Authorization Act, raising alarms about its staggering $1.15 trillion price tag and the inclusion of the Save America Act, a thinly veiled attempt to suppress votes by restricting mail-in ballots and tightening voter-ID requirements—measures that disproportionately harm marginalized communities.
Republican campaign officials, emboldened by gerrymandering, claimed Democrats would face an uphill battle to regain a majority, relying on districts designed to favor former Trump supporters. Some Republicans, like Rep. Don Bacon, warned that unilateral warmongering in Iran could backfire and called for bipartisan cooperation, though such voices remain in the minority.
Democrats, meanwhile, highlighted the economic hardships facing ordinary Americans and pointed to the party’s vibrant internal debates ahead of the midterms. Progressive leader Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that the party’s contested primaries reflect genuine policy debates, not just partisan squabbles, in stark contrast to the GOP’s lockstep march toward war and voter suppression.