Rep. Scholten votes for an $895 billion US military budget, to suppress the death toll in Gaza, and to codify an anti-LGBTQ policy all at the same time

On Wednesday, December 11th, the House passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), 281 to 140, with 81 Democrats and nearly all Republicans voting yes.

Rep. Hillary Scholten was one of those 81 Democrats who voted with the Republicans to provide $895 billion for military spending in 2025. This US military spending bill is the largest in US history and demonstrates once again that when it comes to massive spending on the US military it has bi-partisan support. 

Rep. Scholten once again proved to her constituents that she unconditionally supports the US military and makes sure that US military funding priorities are more important that meeting the needs of the millions of people in the US who don’t have adequate health care, safe housing, or a livable wage. 

Rep. Scholten has made it a point to brag about the fact that she has brought $2.9 Million back to West Michigan for a variety of projects. What Rep. Scholten does not talk about, nor does she post this on her Facebook page, is the fact that the amount of federal taxes that have left the 3rd Congressional district, specifically for the US military, is $1.82 Billion. 

Now, according to the National Priorities Project, the $1.82 Billion that leaves the 3rd Congressional District for US military spending could provide incredible resources to people in Rep. Scholten’s district if she valued their needs over military spending. For example, $1.8 Billion could be used for:

• 256,312 Public Housing Units for 1 Year, or 
• 31,873 Scholarships for University Students for 4 Years, or 
• 657,002 Children Receiving Low-Income Healthcare for 1 Year, or 
• 5.96 million Households with Solar Electricity for 1 Year

In addition to making sure that US military spending is a priority, Rep. Scholten also voted for some additional provisions that were in the National Defense Authorization Act. One of those provisions, according to a recent article on The Intercepted, “would bar the Pentagon from publicly citing as “authoritative” casualty data from the Gaza Health Ministry, effectively concealing the full extent of the death toll in Gaza in the military’s public communications. The data from Palestinian authorities has been the only consistent and reliable count of the death toll out of Gaza over the last 14 months, with Israel consistently denying human rights workers access to the enclave and preventing foreign media journalists from entering.” This fits with Rep. Scholten’s unconditional support for Israel, especially in the past 14 months while Israel has been committing a genocide against the Palestinians. 

A second provision that Rep. Scholten voted for would prohibit transgender children on military health insurance from receiving gender-affirming care. This provision was included by the Republican Party, which would codify explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ policy into federal law for the first time in decades.

In the end, Rep. Hillary Scholten decided to vote for the largest US military budget in history at $895 Billion, voted to prevent the Pentagon from citing casualty data from the Gaza Health Ministry, and to codify into federal law that US military personnel could not use health benefits for gender-affirming care for their transgender children. With her vote Rep, Scholten demonstrates that she fully supports US imperialism, wants to suppress information about Israel’s genocide, and her support for anti-trans policies.