On Tuesday, the US Senate voted against a measure to proceed with S.4784, the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which has been widely criticized for its plan to effectively merge Israeli defense technology with the United States’ military.
The Senate vote tallied 50 “yeas” – all from Republicans.
Of the 46 “nays,” only Republican Senate Leader John Thune voted nay after it became clear the measure would not pass. Switching to a “nay” vote was a procedural move. By switching his vote to a no, he became part of the prevailing side. Senate rules stipulate that only someone from the prevailing side can enter a motion for the measure to be reconsidered, so the bill will be brought back for another vote.
Senators Fetterman (D-PA), McConnell (R-KY), Justice (R-WV), and Padilla (D-CA) were recorded as not voting.
John Yep, president of Catholics for Catholics, shared strong words for those pushing the passage of the bill. “WAKE UP AMERICA!” he wrote. “Everyone who loves our sovereignty as a Nation should be pushing back hard on any member of Congress who votes this week to merge the United States Military with Israel’s.”
“It’s bad enough to surrender our military autonomy to a foreign power like this,” Yep continued. “But the current country of Israel is no normal country. Our ‘greatest ally’ is currently run by a regime of bloodthirsty criminals who drag our Country into pointless wars, slaughter Christians in Lebanon, and are guilty of genocide in Gaza.”
“ONE HARD NO. Absolutely not. Shame on any member of our Congress who votes for this.”
As Catholics for Catholics previously reported, this year’s NDAA “proposes an unprecedented level of integration between the US and Israeli military and defense industries.” In a recent interview on Fox News, host Rachel Campos-Duffy, a Catholic, asked Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu, “Will that drawing down of foreign aid [over the next ten years] be compensated by the proposal to have a merging of some sort between our Pentagon and your military?”
A great development: The Senate voted AGAINST the NDAA 50-46, denying Israel a merger with the US.
— IanMalcolm84 (@IanMalcolm84) July 14, 2026
Those 46 who voted in favor, should face charges for treason pic.twitter.com/zZUmXSEGzY
Netanyahu affirmed. “I’m calling it, ‘From aid to partnership’…I think the meshing of our two great countries of talent would strengthen America’s competitive position.”
“[That] certainly brings up some issues of sovereignty,” Campos-Duffy responded.
Military.com reports that Republican Congressman Thomas Massie is reviving an effort to strip the Israeli merging measure from the House version of the bill. In June, Massie and others introduced an amendment to strip the controversial Section 219 from the NDAA, but the House Rules Committee did not allow a vote on the amendment. Due to a failed vote on a resolution regarding debate rules, however, Massie now has another opportunity to reintroduce the amendment.
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