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'Our Country Is Obsessed With War,' Tlaib Says as House Approves $832 Billion Military Bill
"Every year, Congress votes to invest in death and destruction instead of healthcare, housing, clean air and water, or ending child poverty here at home," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Jul 18, 2025
The U.S. House passed legislation early Friday that would provide roughly $832 billion in funding for military programs for the coming fiscal year, a vote that came shortly after the chamber approved a $9 billion rescissions package that takes an axe to public media and foreign aid.
Five House Democrats—Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Adam Gray of California, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington—joined most Republicans in voting for the military appropriations bill for fiscal year 2026. Just three Republicans voted no.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who opposed the legislation along with other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote on social media following the vote that "our country is obsessed with war."
"Every year, Congress votes to invest in death and destruction instead of healthcare, housing, clean air and water, or ending child poverty here at home," Tlaib continued. "I will not vote to send another $831.5 billion to the Pentagon."
Republican supporters of the legislation touted provisions that boost investments in the immensely wasteful F-35 and other aircraft, support "modernization of the nuclear triad," and allocate "approximately $13 billion for missile defense and space programs to augment and integrate in support of the Golden Dome effort."
"In the middle of the night, House Republicans just passed a bill that will dump billions into the Pentagon, the only agency that has NEVER passed an audit," wrote Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who voted against the legislation. "If we want to actually cut spending—this is a good spot to start. Not by kicking 17 million Americans off their healthcare."
The measure's passage came as the House also worked on an authorization bill that would allow the U.S. military to spend the funds appropriated by lawmakers.
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the authorization bill earlier this week, the panel's Republican chairman—who has received millions of dollars in campaign cash from military contractors that benefit from an ever-increasing Pentagon budget—mocked Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) for being the lone opponents of advancing the measure out of committee.
"I am used to the good-natured ribbing from my colleagues," Khanna wrote. "But I do not believe we need a $1 trillion budget to have a strong, modern defense. And I want to see more investment in good jobs at home than billions spent on more wars abroad."
WATCH: Armed Services members mock @RoKhanna for voting against the largest military budget in US history
All other @HASCDemocrats (except @RepSaraJacobs) voted to spend 1 TRILLION on war — even as working families continue to struggle across the country#NDAA @HASCRepublicans https://t.co/uKC9dB7m2J pic.twitter.com/d41N1KYJSO
— Just Foreign Policy (@justfp) July 16, 2025
The House's passage of the military funding bill came minutes after the chamber approved a White House-backed rescissions package that aims to claw back $9 billion in previously approved spending on public broadcasting and foreign assistance.
The rescissions bill now heads to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement that "Republicans once again handed over the congressional power of the purse to Donald Trump and Russell Vought," the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
"This was never about exercising fiscal responsibility," said Boyle. "If it were, Republicans would never have passed their Big Ugly Law that adds trillions to the national debt with massive tax breaks for billionaires. This was about caving to Trump."
The budget law Boyle referenced also included more than $150 billion for the Pentagon, pushing U.S. military spending above $1 trillion.
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'Weaponization of Data': Trump Admin Gives ICE Personal Info of 79 Million Medicaid Recipients
"Trump said he would go after the 'worst of the worst' immigrants, yet now is giving ICE EVERYONE's Medicaid data, even as ICE targets U.S. citizens," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
Jul 17, 2025
The Trump administration is handing over the personal data of every Medicaid enrollee to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to The Associated Press Thursday, all 79 million people currently receiving the government health insurance benefit will have information shared with ICE by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):
The database will reveal to ICE officials the names, addresses, birth dates, ethnic and racial information, as well as Social Security numbers for all people enrolled in Medicaid. The state and federally funded program provides healthcare coverage... for the poorest of people, including millions of children.
The "extraordinary" agreement was struck Monday with CMS and not meant to be publicized, according to the AP. The memo states that its intention is to help ICE find the "location of aliens" across the country.
As one unnamed CMS employee told the AP, "They are trying to turn us into immigration agents."
Republicans have often raised the specter of undocumented immigrants claiming benefits in order to justify cutting the government health insurance program.
However, undocumented immigrants are barred from receiving federally funded Medicaid coverage.
The only exception is emergency Medicaid, which covers lifesaving services and which the government requires to be extended to anyone who needs it regardless of status—though this makes up just 1% of overall Medicaid spending.
Some states have also expanded Medicaid to include noncitizens not covered by the federal program. However, that money comes from state budgets rather than the federal one.
Last month, President Donald Trump demanded that CMS hand over the personal data of the millions of Medicaid enrollees in the seven states that allow noncitizens to apply, a move that dozens of states sued to prevent.
At the time, the government justified it as a measure to simply root out fraud and abuse. But under Monday's agreement, the AP says, the Department of Homeland Security "will use the data to identify, for deportation purposes, people who [are] in the country illegally."
However, nearly everyone enrolled in Medicaid is either an American citizen or other legal resident.
Given that the president has made very clear his intent to begin denaturalizing and deporting American citizens, the handing of tens of millions of people's sensitive information to ICE is causing widespread alarm.
"Trump is letting ICE track Americans using their personal and private Medicaid health data. Undocumented immigrants aren't eligible to receive Medicaid, but other people they want to target and track are," said Melanie D'Arrigo, the executive director of the the Campaign for New York Health. "They're not going to stop at immigrants."
"The massive transfer of the personal data of millions of Medicaid recipients should alarm every American," Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told the AP. "This massive violation of our privacy laws must be halted immediately. It will harm families across the nation and only cause more citizens to forego lifesaving access to healthcare."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote in a post on X that, "This is about the weaponization of data, full stop. Trump said he would go after the 'worst of the worst' immigrants, yet now is giving ICE EVERYONE's Medicaid data, even as ICE targets U.S. citizens."
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Muslim Lawmakers Decry 'Vile' Bipartisan Islamophobic Attacks on Zohran Mamdani
The lawmakers asserted that "smears from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle" cannot be allowed to continue.
Jun 27, 2025
All four Muslim members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday condemned their colleagues' Islamophobic attacks on Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, which have come not only from Republicans but also from at least two congressional Democrats representing the candidate's home state.
"The vile, anti-Muslim, and racist smears from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle attacking Zohran Mamdani cannot be met with silence," Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), André Carson (D-Ind.), and Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement.
"At a time of increased violence against elected officials, we cannot allow the attacks on Zohran Mamdani to continue."
Mamdani—a democratic socialist who would be the first Muslim mayor of the nation's largest city if he wins November's general election—has come under fire by Republicans including Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who on Thursday formally appealed to U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi to initiate proceedings to denaturalize and deport "little Muhammad."
Earlier this week, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) posted a photo of Mamdani wearing a traditional tunic with the caption, "After 9/11 we said, 'Never Forget.' I think sadly we have forgotten."
As of Friday afternoon, no Democratic member of Congress from New York had explicitly condemned their GOP colleagues' Islamophobic remarks. To the contrary, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) falsely claimed Thursday that Mamdani had made references to "global jihad" and spuriously asserted that "globalize the intifada"—a call for Palestinian liberation and battling injustice—is a call to "kill all the Jews."
Freshman Rep. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.) also falsely accused Mamdani of "a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments."
The four Muslim lawmakers said in their statement that "these hateful, Islamophobic, and racist tropes have become so entrenched and normalized in our politics."
"We know these attacks all too well," they added.
Omar and Tlaib have been on the receiving end of Islamophobic attacks by House colleagues and outside death threats for years, stemming in part from Omar's status as refugee and Tlaib's as the only Palestinian American in Congress.
Like Mamdani, both lawmakers have also been targeted from both sides of the aisle for their support for Palestinian liberation, as well as their opposition to Israel's invasion, occupation, colonization and apartheid in Palestine, and the assault and siege of Gaza that are the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case.
Advocacy groups have reported a sharp increase in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate incidents since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led assault on Israel, a climate reminiscent of the pervasive Islamophobia following the September 11, 2001 attacks. There has also been a surge in antisemitism as Israeli forces obliterate Gaza, although critics have decried the widespread conflation of opposition to Zionism with hatred of Jewish people by groups including the Anti-Defamation League.
"At a time of increased violence against elected officials, we cannot allow the attacks on Zohran Mamdani to continue," the four lawmakers stressed. "They directly contribute to the ongoing dehumanization and violence against Muslim Americans. We unequivocally reject the normalization of anti-Muslim hate and fearmongering and call on elected leaders across our country to speak out."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) also issued a statement Friday condemning the "outpouring of disgraceful, dangerous, racist ideology from sitting members of Congress and [Trump] administration officials following Zohran Mamdani's win in the New York mayoral primary."
Jayapal continued:
The constant displays of Islamophobia are an affront to the millions of Muslim Americans and Muslims around the world. One of the most jarring called for the denaturalization and deportation of Mr. Mamdani, an American citizen who just won a massive Democratic primary with more votes than that member, Mr. Ogles, could ever hope to win. This is an insult to voters in New York City who take democracy seriously.
Denaturalization of U.S. citizens is part of the Trump playbook to attack all legal immigration. It is completely outrageous and flies in the face of the laws of this country.
"The hateful language directed at Mr. Mamdani will get someone killed, and we all should be outraged," Jayapal added. "It must end. Every person who cares about democracy, freedom of religion, and the right for all Americans to be treated equally should speak out immediately against these insane and dangerous attacks."
Correction: This article originally misidentified Rep. Gillen as "Lauren" Gillen.
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