RELEASE: Gottheimer Champions Six Amendments and Other Key Priorities Passed in Annual Defense Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) voted against the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the House after unrelated, partisan provisions from the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act and anti-LGBTQ+ riders were included in the defense bill — even as Gottheimer successfully fought to include a series of his own bipartisan national security priorities to protect New Jersey families.

“I’ll always work across the aisle to get things done for our service members,  our national security, and to protect Jersey families. I’m proud of the bipartisan wins I fought to include in this bill,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “But, I was furious that the far right jammed in unrelated, partisan provisions from the SAVE Act along with anti-LGBTQ+ provisions. America’s families and our national security deserve better than to be used as a vehicle for a partisan agenda. That’s why I could not support this bill in its current form and will fight to get these provisions removed in the final version as it heads to the Senate.”

Despite his opposition to the final bill, Gottheimer secured the following bipartisan provisions in the FY27 NDAA:

• Provide $100 million for Gottheimer’s U.S.-Israel Anti-Killer Drone Act of 2026 to combat drone attacks from Iran and its proxies.
• Provide an additional $5 million for the DoD SkillBridge program to prepare service members for their careers after the military.
• Provide an additional $5 million for the National Defense Education Program to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and workforce initiatives for military students.
• Require American officials to advocate against the enforcement of International Criminal Court (ICC) warrants targeting allied militaries.
• Enhance U.S.-Israel-Egypt cooperation to strengthen Gaza-Egypt border security and prevent weapons smuggling by Hamas.
• Require the Department of Defense (DoD) to assess antisemitism within military service academies.
• Prohibit the use of Chinese monitoring technology on DoD-owned or leased rail cars.

“These are common-sense priorities that protect our troops and our allies, crack down on antisemitism at our service academies, and invest in education and workforce training for our military families,” Gottheimer continued. “I fought hard to include provisions that will improve our national security and quality of life for our troops, and I’ll keep fighting to see them enacted — but I am disappointed that they were paired with partisan poison pills that have no business in a national defense bill.”

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