During consideration of the fiscal 2026 financial-services, general-government, national-security, and State Department appropriations bill (H.R. 7006), Representative Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) offered an amendment to eliminate $315 million in federal funding for the National Endowment for Democracy, a government-funded, nongovernmental organization that provides grants to political groups and other organizations abroad, and $2.2 billion for other democracy programs.

The House rejected Crane's amendment on January 14, 2026 by a vote of 127 to 291 (Roll Call 27). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution does not authorize the federal government to fund nongovernmental organizations or provide foreign aid. Furthermore, the United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. The Founders recognized that simple majorities threaten individual rights and produce a "tyranny of the majority," and the U.S. government should not impose "democracy" on other countries.