Congresswoman Lee Statement on FY25 Defense Authorization Bill
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, released the following statement upon passage of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the House of Representatives.
"Once again, this extremist Republican majority has forced through a defense bill that ignores the needs of the American people and our allies while continuing to enable rampant waste, fraud, and abuse at the Pentagon. At $895 billion, this year’s budget is the largest in history and continues a pattern of blindly sending money to defense contractors and failing weapons systems despite the American people’s desire to rein in military spending. This amount represents half of our total discretionary spending, and yet year after year members are deprived of the opportunity to meaningfully challenge this obscene number.
“Even a $100 billion cut could fund transformative national priorities like hiring more teachers in public schools, health care, clean energy, and more—without sacrificing our national security. We cannot continue to rely on military solutions to solve human security needs. I call on my colleagues to continue pressing for greater debate on Pentagon spending, more accountability when the Pentagon fails its audits, and for substantial reallocations of the Pentagon budget into domestic and human needs.”