(The Center Square) – While favoring the Lumbee Tribe, gender policies and “the largest giveaway to the military industrial complex in U.S. history” were cited for reasons on Wednesday evening U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026.
The second-term Democrat was the lone nay vote of 14 North Carolinians in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I voted against the National Defense Authorization Act because it falls short of what our servicemembers and the American military truly deserve,” Foushee said in a released statement. “Our national defense should focus on strengthening and investing in our armed forces, and should not include provisions that unfairly exclude or marginalize individuals who are willing to serve our nation in uniform. Furthermore, this bill prioritizes massive spending on Trump’s partisan militarized priorities, while omitting essential support programs for servicemembers and their families.”
Passed 64 consecutive years, and awaiting Senate approval to the House amendments, the legislation authorizes $38 billion for aircraft, $34 billion for nuclear defense, $26 billion for shipbuilding, $25 billion for munitions and $900 million to combat drug trafficking.
A significant portion, $142 billion, goes toward research and development of new military technologies, including biotechnology, hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence.
North Carolina is home to five major military installations, plus a Coast Guard station and a key Army military ocean terminal.
Foushee, in her statement, said adding the $901 billion bill to the $156 billion for defense in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act sends military spending above $1 trillion in fiscal year 2026. And 54% of that, she says, is going to military contractors.
Foushee said she doesn’t like the prevention of collecting gender identity data by the War Department, also known as the Department of Defense pending congressionally approved renaming; the ban on “trans facilities at military facilities and the waving of the Pride flag at Department of Defense facilities”; and the removal of access “to medically-necessary health care for transgender servicemembers and dependents, including mental health care for young trans people.”
Passage was 312-112 in a chamber with 220 Republicans and 213 Democrats. The nays included 18 Republicans, and the yeas had 115 Democrats. Five Republicans and four Democrats did not vote.
A trio of Democrats from North Carolina were for the bill – Reps. Don Davis, Deborah Ross and Alma Adams. Also for it were Republican Reps. Dr. Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx, Addison McDowell, David Rouzer, Rev. Mark Harris, Richard Hudson, Pat Harrigan, Chuck Edwards, Brad Knott and Tim Moore.
Foushee said, “I am, however, thankful that the NDAA includes long-overdue federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, a measure I have supported for many years. While I voted against the passage of this legislation in order to uphold fairness and support for our servicemembers, I am pleased that the over 60,000 Lumbee Tribe members in our state will finally be able to access the federal benefits and resources they rightfully deserve.”
