Heritage Action supports Senator Schmitt’s amendment to defund the National Endowment for Democracy. The vote on this amendment to H.R. 7148, FY26 Consolidated Appropriations Act, will be included as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has been a major driver of the Left's censorship and propaganda machine. The President tried to defund it early in his second term (February 2025) but was blocked by an activist judge (August 2025). NED was established during Ronald Reagan’s presidency as a bipartisan nonprofit tasked with promoting democracy overseas, funded entirely by the U.S. Congress. In recent years, it focused on combating Russian and Chinese disinformation. However, it turned this mandate into a blatant partisan weapon to denounce opponents of progressive ideology, leading American taxpayer funding to flow to organizations and publications that openly equated President Trump to Hitler and likened Republicans generally to the 20th-century fascist movement.
The amendment from Senator Schmitt would correct a substantial issue with H.R. 7148’s continued funding to the partisan National Endowment for Democracy.
Heritage Action supports Senator Schmitt’s amendment to defund the National Endowment for Democracy. The vote on this amendment to H.R. 7148, FY26 Consolidated Appropriations Act, will be included as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.