Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) are working to strip a provision in the annual defense bill that would integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries.
A provision in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act requires War Secretary Pete Hegseth to appoint a lead official to coordinate joint U.S.-Israel defense efforts, including technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation. The effort to integrate the U.S. military with Israel comes amid joint attacks against Iran earlier this year.
Both Massie and Khanna, who previously partnered on a discharge petition to force the Justice Department to release the files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, are vowing to introduce amendments to remove the section in its entirety, either in committee or on the House floor.
Massie, who lost his primary bid to a Trump-backed challenger last month, railed against the provision on social media, saying he would move to remove the measure on the House floor if it made it out of the House Armed Services Committee.
“We are a sovereign country,” Massie wrote on Saturday.
Khanna, a member of the committee, pledged to introduce an amendment to strip it from the must-pass military bill during the committee’s scheduled markup on Thursday.
“Trump can’t kill the Massie/Khanna partnership no matter how much he posts on Truth Social,” Khanna said.
Massie warned he was “looking forward” to posting the committee’s vote outcome online, in a warning shot to committee members ahead of any vote.
“Maybe they’ll go ahead and strip the provision instead of taking the vote, now that people are on to them,” Massie wrote.
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Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), another member of the House Armed Services Committee, rebuked Massie’s opposition, calling it the “dumbest possible take” and an “antisemitic grift.”
“This security agreement will allow for the US to leverage advanced Israeli technologies,” Van Orden wrote. “Don’t you have some Epstein names to release Pedo Protector?”