#ndaa

Rep. Khanna took the 'America First' approach against Section 224, but he was out-numbered by those who played down its dangers and implications.

A House committee summarily struck down an amendment to strip a measure from the massive annual defense policy bill that would provide Israel "a higher level of military-industrial integration" with the U.S. than Washington has "with any other country in the world."

Pro-Israel voices on the House Armed Services Committee argued that reports about Section 224 -- that Congress was trying to integrate U.S. and Israeli military systems as a way to entrench aid without proper oversight -- were disingenuous and wrong....

Not quite true, said the Quincy Institute's Ben Freeman, who broke the initial story of Section 224 for RS last week. "Members of Congress supporting the proposal laid out caricatures of critiques against Section 224. And when they did actually talk about the provision itself they spread half-truths and outright inaccuracies about how far this provision will go to integrate the U.S. and Israeli defense sectors."...

Critically, it would shift the annual $3.8 billion the U.S. now gives Israel (a 10-year memorandum of understanding soon up for renewal) to these programs and partnerships, i.e. "co-production" and other "fusion" deep inside Pentagon procurement and acquisitions process, where sunlight is rare and often fleeting. A perfect solution -- which is, by the way, endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- given the dwindling American support for Israel's wars and U.S. military assistance for them.

In his remarks on Section 224, Khanna spoke vociferously against what he saw as a blank check at a time when a majority of Americans say they do not want to send more military aid to Israel....

Next steps: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) says he will work with Khanna to strip the language from the final House NDAA. If the parade of voices that insist Israel must have this relationship with the U.S. military is any indication, it will be a hard road ahead.

"Lawmakers in Washington are quietly moving to integrate the US and Israeli militaries in unprecedented ways, according to a clause in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (#NDAA) released earlier this week...If implemented, the initiative would 'arguably do more to intertwine the #USmilitary with the #Israelimilitary than the more than $200 billion (inflation adjusted) in military assistance #Israel has received from the US since its founding in 1948,'...The move would also make US aid to Israel more difficult to monitor by making it part of the 'opaque machinery of defense acquisition,' where oversight is limited and political accountability is minimal."

El gobierno federal extenderá la inscripción automática al Servicio Selectivo a todo el país tras la firma de la Ley de Autorización de Defensa Nacional (NDAA) por el presidente Donald Trump en diciembre. El cambio obliga a que todos los hombres de entre 18 y 26 años queden registrados en el sistema de reclutamiento sin necesidad de hacer ningún trámite. Hasta ahora, la inscripción automática ya…

Cristina Stassis at Military Times:

Automatic registration into the U.S. military draft pool for eligible men is slated to begin in December, following efforts from lawmakers and the selective service agency to streamline the previous self-registration process. The Selective Service System, the federal agency that maintains a database of registered U.S. males who are considered draft-eligible in the event of a national emergency, submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30, according to the office’s dashboard. Automatic registration into Selective Service was mandated in December 2025, when President Donald Trump signed into law the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, the agency’s website says. “This statutory change transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources,” the website reads.

[...] Currently, almost all male U.S. citizens and immigrants aged 18 through 25 are required to self-register within 30 days of their 18th birthday, with late registration available until an individual turns 26. Men who fail to register are considered to be in violation of the Military Selective Service Act and can face penalties, such as ineligibility for federal programs, a fine up to $250,000 or five years imprisonment.