Americans have repeatedly been told that the days of sending money to Ukraine are over. Well, that’s not true.
The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which comes with a total sticker price of just over $900 billion, includes $800 million in aid to Ukraine over the next two years. The money continues funding the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays American companies to make weapons for Ukraine’s military.
This is an obvious far cry from the $175 billion the U.S. sent under the Biden administration, but the point is that it’s more than the zero we were promised.
To quote President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor Gen. Mike Flynn, “Why?” Especially after the world just got the receipts for something any analyst with a heartbeat already suspected: that Ukrainian officials close to Volodymyr Zelensky are getting rich off the war through kickback scandals.
NATO/Europe
The new NDAA also authorizes the Baltic Security Initiative and provides $175 million to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia’s defense. These three are NATO nations, and it looks like this allocation is arriving just in time. On Thursday, NATO chief Mark Rutte told allies to prepare for another world war. He said Russia would target Europe next, within approximately five years. How he comes to this number is anyone’s guess, especially since it took Russia nearly four years to eke out 20 percent of Ukraine.
Rutte also talked about a NATO program called Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), which uses European allied money to funnel American Patriot missiles and other air-defense munitions to Ukraine.
Another NATO-related item in the NDAA bars “the Department of Defense from dropping the number of U.S. forces deployed or permanently stationed in Europe to under 76,000 for more than 45 days, unless the Pentagon can certify that NATO allies are consulted and the drawdown is in America’s national security interest,” according to reports about the bill. Now would be a good time for Congress to get on board with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) legislation to get the U.S. out of NATO.
Israel & the Middle East
The NDAA also “provides unprecedented levels of support for the security of Israel,” as a summary of the bill by the House Armed Services Committee put it. This includes fully funding “the U.S. commitment to defend Israel through joint U.S.-Israel cooperative missile defense programs, including Iron Dome, Arrow, and David’s Sling.” It also includes $35 million for a new program that includes the testing of AI, quantum, cybersecurity, robotics, and automation technology; and another $80 million in “funding for DoW [Department of War, officially still the Department of Defense] to continue the U.S.-Israel Anti-Tunnel Cooperation Program.” Then there’s $70 million “to expand cooperation with Israel on countering unmanned systems of all variants, including emerging threats from aerial one-way attack drones and ground and maritime attack systems.”
The committee notes in its summary that the bill also helps combat antisemitism. That includes directing the Defense Department to avoid “participating in international defense exhibitions and forums that prohibit participation by Israel as part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”
In total, the bill allocates $650 million in military aid to Israel. That’s a $45 million increase, according to an analysis by Stephen Semler, co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute. Moreover, this is in addition to the $3.3 billion Israel gets via the State Department budget.
Other Middle Eastern countries receiving American money include Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.
Opposition
Before the House voted for it, Massie proposed several amendments. They included getting rid of the part that gives more money to Ukraine, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Kurdish and Syrian groups. Massie also wanted to eliminate a line item that will transfer MK-84 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. House leadership prevented a vote on all the amendments.
The bill passed the House Wednesday night by a 312-112 vote. Most of the nay votes, 94 of them, were cast by Democrats; 18 were cast by by Republicans. The Republicans who voted against the bill include Andy Biggs of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Byron Donalds of Florida, Ana Paulina Luna of Florida, Chip Roy of Texas, and Massie.
After he cast his NO vote, Burchett recorded a video saying:
There’s money in there for, of course, Ukraine. … Money in there for recognizing an Indian tribe out of North Carolina that has nothing to do with national defense. Syria — money. Iraq. Look, we just gotta quit this stuff. America’s gotta start paying attention. And the Ukraine stuff, Trump didn’t even ask for that — you got the war pimps that push for this stuff. And they always will tell you, “Burchett, man, they’re going to spend all that money here, buying those missiles.” Is that what we’re basing our votes on, they’re going to buy implements to kill other people? I’m all for getting rid of our enemies, but this is just too much, way too much. And things are just not what they appear. We need to wake up.
This latest defense bill provides yet another reminder of how far off the course charted by the Founding Fathers this country has veered. This is especially insulting given that we’re $38 trillion in debt and millions of American citizens are struggling to pay bills, find affordable housing, and buy quality food.
This bill shows that our leaders are either corrupt or ignorant. Whichever it is, they must be either reformed or replaced. Our Freedom Index was created exactly for that. It’s a tool that helps the voter see through the rhetoric and determine what kind of principles their representatives have by examining their voting records.
