Ronny Jackson

The Amarillo Globe News front page story on July 27, “Jackson celebrates Amarillo wins in bill,” failed to point out that the House National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was actually a “Trojan Horse,” with two controversial measures added that are dangerous to our Democracy: the SAVE America Act and the controversial provision expanding U.S.-Israel military technology cooperation. These provisions are certainly nothing Americans would “celebrate.”

Placing a story on the front page during an election year, celebrating a bill that has only passed the House, and hasn’t gone to the Senate for revisions, or to the president for signing, reeks of election unfairness! Ronny Jackson, a Trump tee totaler, has an opponent, Mark Nair. Jackson supports the SAVE America ACT, Nair does not!

House Republicans quietly merged the SAVE Act into the NDAA—as a way to force Senate action, but Senate Republican leadership have repeatedly acknowledged publicly that they do not have the votes to break a Democratic filibuster on the election provisions and therefore would not guarantee passage.

The Senate declined to accept the House’s maneuver to force the SAVE America Act into law by attaching it to the NDAA, voting to block the bill from proceeding and signaling that the voter‑ID provisions are “dead on arrival” in the upper chamber. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and other Senate Republicans calculated the SAVE language could be stripped or left out rather than risk the NDAA.

Multiple senators and House members acknowledged the legislative path: the Senate traditionally writes and amends its own NDAA and can, and has, removed House‑added, non‑germane provisions, a power senators signaled they would use here to remove the SAVE provisions.

The Voter-ID provisions would require that all voters present proof of citizenship to be able to vote. Where is your birth certificate? Married women would lose their right to vote because their married name would not match their name on the birth certificate! A standard driver's license alone does not qualify in most states. A REAL ID alone does not qualify. A military ID alone does not qualify. A tribal ID alone does not qualify.

For most Americans, qualifying requires one of the following: a valid U.S. passport or passport card, a certified birth certificate paired with a photo ID, a naturalization certificate, or a Consular Report of Birth Abroad. If your name does not match those documents, additional paperwork such as a marriage certificate would also be required.

The dispute exposed competing agendas: House Republicans using must‑pass legislation to force a conservative election agenda, and the Senate opposing it! The obvious intent, and the realistic impact of the Save America Act, is to suppress citizen voting!

The second measure slipped into the NDAA was the highly concerning, controversial provision, Section 219, expanding U.S.-Israel military technology cooperation, despite a bipartisan effort to remove it and warnings from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that “the measure could compromise American sovereignty and national security.”

The 216–212 vote on the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act passed mostly along party lines after lawmakers were denied a separate vote to remove Section 219, which would create a permanent initiative to merge U.S. and Israel’s defense tech.

“Creating a law to integrate our military technology and supply chains, with those of any other country, is dangerous,” said Massie, one of seven Republicans to buck party lines and vote against the NDAA.

Section 219 would establish a United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative and would require the defense secretary to designate a Pentagon executive agent to be responsible for coordinating bilateral defense research, development, testing, evaluation, and industrial cooperation with Israel. The U. S. has never entered into a defense cooperation agreement with another country before.

Massie also pointed out that codifying the initiative would make it more difficult for future presidents to withdraw from the arrangement.

“Enshrining this broad agreement and the permanent position it creates in legislation, removes the flexibility of future Presidents to withdraw from such an arrangement,” Massie said. He further argued that it “requires a treaty to initiate the arrangement, not an amendment buried in a law as presented here.”

Massie and Rep. Khanna led an amendment to strike Section 219, joined by seven Democratic Reps. The amendment was not made eligible for floor consideration by Speaker Johnson. Rep. Luna, Florida Republican, separately sought to strike Section 219, but her amendment was also denied a vote.

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson called the NDAA something to celebrate without revealing everything in the Act. His action doesn’t say much for transparency It does say a lot about Jackson’s total commitment to Trump’s wishes.

Claudia Stravato is adjunct professor in the political science department at West Texas A&M University. The above editorial only reflects her personal opinions and not those of any organization to which she belongs.