(RepublicanPress.org) – Washington lawmakers have passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) every year since its inception in 1961. The measure is a federal law that specifies the Defense Department’s budget, expenditures, and related spending policies for each fiscal year. Republican House members recently split on a proposed amendment that would have stripped an appropriation increase of nearly $58 million from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
On June 25, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) introduced an amendment to the 2025 NDAA to strike the measure’s proposed appropriation for CISA of $2,437,285,000 and replace it with last year’s authorization of $2,379,485,000. The following day, the full House conducted a roll call vote on the lawmaker’s proposal (designated in the record as Part C, Amendment No. 11).
The measure failed by a vote of 302 to 94. Republicans split on the measure, with 94 voting aye, 104 voting nay, and 23 not casting a vote. All 198 Democrats present voted against the measure; 18 didn’t vote on the amendment.
Rep. Clyde gave a short floor speech supporting his amendment before the vote. The Georgia lawmaker lashed out at CISA’s “bloated budget and […] increased weaponization mission” to restrict public discourse. Clyde also accused CISA of using “taxpayer dollars to censor Americans and target speech” that the agency finds “disagreeable.”
Clyde also warned that CISA had strayed from its official mission to reduce risk levels experienced by the nation’s “cyber and physical infrastructure.” He explained that the agency shifted its mission to include targeting information it deemed “inaccurate” on a range of topics like the US support for the Ukrainian war effort, the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan, racial justice, and the ongoing debate about the recent pandemic’s origins.
Clyde concluded his remarks by telling his fellow lawmakers that the only way to get a federal agency’s attention was through its funding. He said he proposed flat-funding CISA to put the agency on notice and incentivize it to stop using taxpayer funds to censor public discourse.
On June 28, the House passed the 2025 NDAA, 217 to 198. One Republican defected and voted with Democrats, and five members of the Democratic Party voted alongside GOP lawmakers to help ensure the act’s passage.
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