Members of the House Armed Services Committee sparred on Tuesday at their annual meeting on the National Defense Authorization Act, the massive annual defense and national security policy legislation, over reportedly rogue actions by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Under Secretary Elbridge Colby to pause U.S. aid to Ukraine without White House knowledge or support.

In debate on an amendment by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) that sought to block Hegseth from halting Ukraine aid without Trump’s direct authorization, Democrats argued that Hegseth and Colby were subverting the command structure, while Republicans dismissed the concerns and insisted that Trump was in full control of the administration’s policy. The amendment failed along party lines.

“I’ve not been a fan of President [Donald] Trump’s Ukraine policy up until this week … but I do believe in the chain of command and the role of the commander in chief,” Moulton said. “Regardless of my disagreements with the president, we have one commander in chief. It’s not Bridge Colby or Pete Hegseth.”

“When the Department of Defense freelances with lethal aid, it sends mixed signals to our allies and emboldens our adversaries,” Moulton continued.

Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA), also calling out Colby and Hegseth directly, said, “decisions of this magnitude do not belong to a single cabinet official with a political agenda.”

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the committee chairman, responded that “the president is in full control of America’s Ukraine policy. Yesterday’s announcement to accelerate weapon deliveries with NATO support made that crystal clear. Therefore, this amendment does nothing more than add red tape.”

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) said the amendment is “nothing more than political theater,” “sticking the congressional nose where it does not belong” and “a waste of time.” He said that it’s up to Trump to fire Hegseth if he’s dissatisfied with him, but that the cabinet exists to delegate responsibilities.

The committee also voted down, on party lines, an amendment by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) that aimed to block the conversion of a Qatari jumbo jet into Air Force One as well as its transfer to Trump’s presidential library, as well as several amendments related to Hegseth’s transmission of Houthi attack plans on the unsecured messaging app Signal.

The committee approved several amendments relating to the Middle East in bipartisan amendment packages. The amendments request briefings and reports from the administration on potential risks to the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, which was attacked by Iran last month, the potential for defense partnership with the new Syrian government, the U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel and its replenishment needs and potential integration of the U.S. defense industrial base with Israel.

Those amendments were led by Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Joe Wilson (R-SC), respectively.

It also approved three amendments relating to antisemitism as part of amendment packages.

One, led by Jackson, would ban any funding for colleges and universities that have had antisemitic demonstrations and “failed to take action to mitigate and prevent” future ones, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

A second, led by Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD), would require a report on antisemitism training and efforts to combat antisemitism inside the Pentagon.

The third, by Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA) would request a report on “the threat posed by violent antisemitism as a component of transnational extremist movements,” including the spread of their ideologies and propaganda, the threat they pose to U.S. and the history of violence motivated by antisemitic ideologies.

The bill includes provisions establishing a new program pursuing defense applications of technologies like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum computing and automation with Israel and other partners; authorizing the U.S. to maintain its weapons stockpile in Israel and its counter-tunnelling cooperation program with Israel through 2028; and expanding an existing U.S.-Israel counter-drone and missile cooperative program to include other types of unmanned systems in addition to airborne threats.

It proposes $35 million for the emerging technology cooperation program, $50 million for anti-tunneling cooperation and $70 million for counter-unmanned systems cooperation, a $15 million boost.

The bill also requests a briefing on the findings that Western components have been used in Iranian attack drones, in spite of sanctions and export restrictions, and ways that the problem can be addressed.

The committee rejected an amendment from Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) that would have eliminated Ukraine aid in the bill by a voice vote, and voted 47-10 in favor of an amendment by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) that would boost Ukraine aid by $100 million, bringing the total to $400 million.

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the NDAA was also released on Wednesday. That bill includes the same extension of counter-tunneling programs through 2028, but proposes increasing funding to $80 million. It proposes increasing funding for the existing counter-drone and missile program to $75 million, and also extends that program through 2028. It provides $15 million for emerging technology development with Israel.

The Senate bill also instructs the Defense Department to work to provide additional “training, equipment, logistics support, supplies, and services” to Jordan and Lebanon to protect their territorial security. 

Amid debate over withdrawing troops from Syria, the Senate bill would require the Defense Department to certify that withdrawing or reducing U.S. troop presence in Syria would not compromise U.S. priorities. It also instructs the Pentagon to “take appropriate measures to support the defenses” of camps in Syria holding ISIS prisoners and report to Congress on the subject.

As previously reported by Jewish Insider, the bill also pushes to advance Middle East air defense integration.

The 21 members of the House Jewish Caucus — all Democrats — pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a letter sent on Tuesday expressing concerns about Kingsley Wilson, the recently promoted Pentagon press secretary with a history of antisemitic and otherwise controversial comments.

“Recent public reporting has highlighted a series of deeply troubling and offensive statements made by Kingsley Wilson, now serving as Pentagon Press Secretary,” the letter reads. “These statements include promoting the antisemitic and racist ‘Great Replacement’ theory, praising far-right political movements using slogans tied to neo-Nazi groups, and repeating patently false statements commonly circulated in neo-Nazi circles about Leo Frank, a Jewish man who was lynched by an antisemitic mob in Georgia in 1915.”

The letter argues that the remarks are “not isolated or ambiguous and have long been associated with violence and hate” and “their presence boldly and unrepentantly plastered in the public record of a senior Department official raises serious questions about the Department’s commitment to opposing extremism and antisemitism.”

Hegseth, at a recent Senate hearing, defended Wilson and said her comments had been mischaracterized for political gain, but also said he’d need to see her comments in full to evaluate them.

The lawmakers asked Hegseth whether the remarks are acceptable for a senior Pentagon employee in a public-facing role, how the Pentagon evaluates whether public statements necessitate disciplinary action, any steps the administration has taken in the past in response to antisemitic comments from Pentagon employees and whether Hegseth personally finds the comments acceptable for a representative of the Defense Department.

“We look forward to promptly receiving your reply. In the meantime, we urge the Department to affirm its responsibility to uphold the highest ethical standards,” the lawmakers wrote. “That includes an unambiguous commitment to confronting and unequivocally condemning antisemitism — especially within its own ranks — and ensuring that individuals who promote hate are quickly and appropriately held accountable.”

The letter was led by Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA) and co-signed by caucus co-chairs Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) and co-signed by Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Eugene Vindman (D-VA), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Mike Levin (D-CA), Becca Balint (D-VT), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).

Wilson’s record has also previously elicited concern from Republicans.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth offered a strident defense of Kingsley Wilson, the recently promoted Pentagon press secretary with a history of espousing antisemitic conspiracy theories, under questioning at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday.

Wilson, prior to her appointment, attacked the Anti-Defamation League for memorializing the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish man who was wrongly convicted for raping and murdering a child, and called the ADL “despicable.” Wilson insisted that Frank was guilty — a niche and discredited theory largely associated with neo-Nazis.

She also has frequently boosted the antisemitic “Great Replacement” theory, advocated for Christian nationalism, used a neo-Nazi linked slogan to praise the far-right Alternative for Germany party, compared the murder of Israeli babies by Hamas to abortion and opposed U.S. aid to Israel, among a host of other controversial comments.

“I’ve worked directly with her, she does a fantastic job, and any suggestion that I or her or others are party to antisemitism is a mischaracterization attempting to win political points,” Hegseth said in a heated exchange with Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who co-chairs the Senate antisemitism task force.

“Senator, you’re attempting to win political points on the backs of mischaracterizing the statements of a member of my department and I’m not going to stand for that,” Hegseth continued.

“Your lack of an answer confirms what we’ve known all along: The Trump administration is not serious. You are not a serious person, you are not serious about rooting out and fighting antisemitism within the ranks of our DoD,” Rosen responded, as she and Hegseth attempted to shout over each other. “It’s despicable. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

Some Senate Republicans, including the Armed Services Committee chairman, had expressed concern about Wilson prior to her promotion and said that they were probing the issue and expected the Pentagon to address it.

Rosen referenced some of those criticisms in her questioning of Hegseth.

Earlier in her questioning, before mentioning Wilson specifically, Rosen asked Hegseth if he agreed that antisemitic conspiracy theories should not have a role in the government or military and that individuals who promote neo-Nazi conspiracy theories should not be in positions of power.

“Since I don’t believe the characterization of many officials in the news media, I would need to see precisely what’s being characterized,” Hegseth said initially, before affirming that he agreed.

Hegseth was also asked multiple times throughout the hearing about potential U.S. planning for a strike on Iran or to defend U.S. troops should Iran target them. He largely declined to speak publicly on the issue beyond saying that the Pentagon’s role was to plan for a range of potential scenarios. Hegseth will take more questions from senators in a classified setting in the afternoon.