Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert claimed Wednesday that the vote on a bill for $1.1 trillion for military funding closed while she was waiting to talk to Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Boebert agreed with Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie’s effort to strike Section 219 from the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was planning to speak with Hegseth or a senior official of the department before she voted, the congresswoman claimed in a late Wednesday X post. Section 219 would have the Secretary of Defense designate an “executive agent” responsible for “synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel,” according to the bill.
“Unfortunately, the vote was closed sooner than expected and before my conversations with DoW concluded,” the congresswoman said in her X post.
Boebert has spoken out against this section of the NDAA, referring to it as “a big tech swap between us and Israel,” per a TMZ DC video posted to X by the outlet’s Jacob Wasserman.
Boebert declined to comment on the record to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“It’s a big issue on the left and the right, and many of my constituents have reached out. They don’t want this provision in the bill. Well, White House doesn’t want it in the bill, Secretary Hegseth doesn’t want it in the bill,” Boebert said in the video explaining what happened during the vote. “So I’m in the back, waiting for a call from the Secretary. I’m told that call is coming; I’m talking to someone underneath him, and I’m told the vote’s going to stay open. They close the vote.”
Boebert added in the video that she wanted to vote for the NDAA, which seven Republicans including Massie voted against.
Republican staffers appeared to have lied to Boebert while negotiations were taking place, Wasserman also reported in his X post.
“I don’t want to be on camera this week and I’ve been on camera more than any other week,” she told TMZ DC, before discussing her recent Botox procedure. “My Botox hasn’t caught up on this side. Maybe in two days, this side will catch up to the other side.”
“The Department appreciates working with Rep. Lauren Boebert to properly address her concerns,” acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez told the DCNF.
“My concerns about Section 219 and authorizing bureaucrats to give away America’s secrets are well known, so these talks and getting a commitment to get that stripped out were important,” Boebert said in a Wednesday X post.
Boebert did eventually help secure Hegseth’s commitment “that Section 219 would be stripped from the NDAA in conference,” according to the X post.
Boebert has worked for months to strengthen the NDAA, according to the post.
“This isn’t the final stop and I’ll have at least one more vote on this bill after it comes out of conference,” Boebert said. “Congress still has more work to do to shape this legislation and I will continue to be a strong voice in those conversations.”
Two other U.S. Representatives also missed the vote, Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, who recently won the GOP nomination for Arizona Governor, and Democrat Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson.
The House also defeated Massie’s amendment to strip the section in a 314-104 vote.
(DCNF)
