Voters sent Republicans to Congress to demolish the Deep State.
The Swamp has a sickening number of friends on the inside.
And RINO turncoats quietly saved this Deep State censorship scheme with an infuriating betrayal.
Eli Crane's amendment to defund National Endowment for Democracy lost after 81 House Republicans joined Democrats
Arizona Rep. Eli Crane offered an amendment to eliminate $315 million in National Endowment for Democracy funding from the government spending bill.
The NED sounds noble enough on paper – promoting democracy worldwide.
But Crane exposed what the organization actually does with taxpayer money.
"Although its name suggests a force for good, its mission has drifted far from its Cold War origins," Crane said on the House floor. "This is a classic tactic of the swamp, where bad policy and corruption hide behind a noble title."
The NED bankrolled the Global Disinformation Index in 2020 – a UK-based outfit that designated conservative news outlets as the "riskiest" sources for disinformation.
GDI used that blacklist to convince major advertisers to stop funding conservative outlets.
Taxpayer dollars paid for censorship of Americans.
Utah Senator Mike Lee called out the scam before the vote.
"Congress shouldn't be giving $315 million to the National Endowment for Democracy," Lee wrote on X. "We are not the world's ATM."
President Trump tried to defund the NED completely back in May after reports showed the organization doled out money to entities attacking Republicans.
Elon Musk also advocated for killing the funding.
The vote split Republicans right down the middle – 127 voted to defund, 81 sided with Democrats to keep the money flowing.
Texas Rep. Keith Self didn't mince words.
"This is the Uniparty at work—betraying voters who demanded an end to woke, weaponized government spending," Self wrote on X after the vote. "The American people sent us here to CUT this nonsense, not keep funding it!"
NED's Dean Jackson called Elon Musk bigger threat than Russia while pushing global censorship
Mike Benz from the Foundation for Freedom Online exposed what NED actually does behind closed doors.
NED's Dean Jackson – who spearheaded the organization's censorship projects during Trump's first term – bragged that NED moved into the "disinformation" space in 2017 because Trump won the 2016 election.
Jackson claimed Russian disinformation on social media helped Trump win and NED had to stop it.
Jackson gave away the game.
NED's censorship operations started with Russian disinformation as the pretext, but Jackson later admitted Elon Musk should be treated as a graver threat than Russia.
He sided with Brazil in banning X from the country.
A taxpayer-funded organization that's supposed to promote democracy abroad is targeting American citizens and calling for censorship of an American platform.
The Heritage Foundation didn't hold back after the vote.
"A complete betrayal of the Americans who sent them there," Heritage wrote on X. "NED is a radically left-wing enterprise and the global tip of the spear of disinformation and censorship campaigns against conservatives."
"The objective of some so-called conservatives appears to be to preserve the Deep State and destroy the historic opportunity Americans gave them to make lasting improvements to the federal government," Heritage added.
Voters handed Republicans control of the House to cut wasteful, weaponized spending, and Trump won a mandate to drain the swamp and end the censorship regime.
An activist judge already blocked Trump's executive order to defund NED.
Eighty-one Republicans stabbed their own voters in the back by siding with Democrats to keep the money flowing.
Rep. Crane called it what it is.
"Tonight, the Uniparty rejected my amendment to defund NED," Crane wrote on X. "Eighty-one 'republicans' voted with democrats to fund this rogue organization that fuels global censorship and domestic propaganda."
The spending package heads to the Senate.
If it passes and Trump signs it, the NED gets full funding to keep censoring conservatives.
The 81 Republicans who sided with Democrats owe their constituents an explanation for funding an organization that targets conservative media with censorship campaigns.
The American people didn't send them to Washington to preserve the Deep State.
They sent them there to dismantle it.
Sources:
- Adam Pack, "81 Republicans Vote With Democrats To Fund Deep State Slush Fund That Targeted Conservatives," Daily Caller News Foundation, January 14, 2026.
- Rep. Keith Self (@RepKeithSelf), X post, January 14, 2026.
- Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber), X posts, January 14, 2026.
- The Heritage Foundation (@Heritage), X post, January 14, 2026.
