By Staff Reporter |
The divide among Republicans in Congress became apparent on Wednesday during key budget votes.
Two key Republican-led amendments to the appropriations bill failed for lack of lockstep party voting: one to end funding to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the other to slash funding to the D.C. District and Appeals court and its chief judge.
Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ02) introduced the failed amendment to defund NED, alleging the nonprofit has acted in hostility to U.S. interests for years.
NED issues thousands of grants annually to foreign nongovernmental groups. For the 2025 fiscal year, NED received $315 million in new appropriations and had spending power of $316 million from a balance carried over. The Trump administration failed to defund NED earlier this year.
“We’ve learned that this organization has engaged in global censorship, domestic propaganda, and regime-change politics. It has worked to crush populist movements, fuel color revolutions, and run off-the-books operations with plausible deniability,” said Crane.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ05) accused NED of Democratic “ideological capture” undermining elected leadership, citing the 2022 incident in which NED demanded the removal of Rep. Elise Stefanik from their board for defending President Donald Trump following the 2020 election.
“If this was such a doggone great program, then why has it been unauthorized by this body for more than 20 years?” asked Biggs. “The reason is, it’s lost its moorings, it’s wandering around, it hasn’t complied with transparency requirements, it more closely resembles covert political operations designed to entangle the United States in foreign disputes and undermine diplomatic efforts than support them.”
Republican representatives on behalf of Missouri, Florida, and Pennsylvania also spoke in favor of Crane’s amendment to defund NED.
Crane challenged the Republicanism of his fellow Republicans who voted to continue NED funding.
“81 ‘Republicans’ voted with Democrats to fund this rogue organization that fuels global censorship and domestic propaganda,” said Crane.
He pledged to “keep fighting” to end funding to NED.
“The swamp is real,” said Crane. “But we did pass the Shower Act this week. I could use one after spending so much time in this awful place.”
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ06) was the sole Arizona Republican to join Arizona’s Democratic representatives and the majority of the House in voting down Crane’s amendment.
The Republican-led effort to end funding to the D.C. court and its chief judge, James Boasberg, were the latest attempt to exact punishment over rulings that have undermined Trump administration policies. Texas Rep. Chip Roy led on that amendment.
Crane called his fellow representatives “weak” for voting to continue funds for Boasberg.
The amendment would have slashed the court’s funding by 20 percent and struck the salary and expense funding for Boasberg and his staff.
Last week, the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action & Federal Rights convened a hearing on accountability for “rogue judges” through impeachment. Boasberg and another judge with the Maryland District Court, Deborah Boardman were named.
Last summer, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a misconduct complaint against Boasberg which accused him of “undermin[ing] the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary” by attempting to influence Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and about two dozen other federal judges against President Donald Trump.
Ciscomani did join his fellow Arizona Republicans in supporting Roy’s amendment.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
