Senate Democrats block $1 trillion defense bill in protest over Iran war [View all]

Source: AP News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats blocked a $1 trillion annual defense bill Tuesday, refusing to advance the bipartisan package that would substantially increase Pentagon spending, including a pay raise for the troops, in protest of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced his opposition and other key Democrats said they could not support the annual bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, as the war drags into a fifth month with no clear endgame in sight. The tally was 50-46, failing largely along party lines to reach the threshold needed.

“The NDAA cannot become a permission slip for that recklessness that we see occurring in Iran,” Schumer, of New York, said ahead of voting.

“Donald Trump does not get to drag the American people deeper into a war he cannot explain and does not know how to end—and then demand that Congress look the other way.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/senate-defense-bill-iran-war-fe6f7d37197f8e04dbe12dcec390aad2