Figures Votes on Defense Bills With Fort Rucker, Maxwell Money Draw Scrutiny Before Election
Rep. Shomari Figures voted against spending and defense bills carrying $141.4 million for Fort Rucker and Maxwell Air Force Base, records show, days before his race with Rhett Marques.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, voted against several large federal spending and defense bills that included a combined $141.4 million in funding and authorizations for projects at Fort Rucker and Maxwell Air Force Base, according to congressional voting records, a record now under scrutiny days before he faces Republican state Rep. Rhett Marques in the Nov. 3 election.
The votes surfaced this week after Figures was criticized for touting federal funding that came from legislation he had opposed. A review of his voting record shows a similar pattern on military construction money for Alabama installations, including two bases inside the newly drawn 2nd Congressional District.
Like most members of Congress, Figures casts votes on sweeping, multi-part bills that bundle funding for many agencies and programs, and lawmakers frequently oppose such packages over provisions unrelated to individual local projects. The bills described below were broad measures supported by Republican leadership and opposed by most House Democrats.
The fiscal 2026 military construction vote
On Nov. 12, 2025, Figures voted against final passage of H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026. The law combined a stopgap spending measure that ended the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1, 2025, with full-year funding for three areas of government, including the Fiscal Year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
The House approved the final version 222-209 after the Senate passed it 60-40 on Nov. 10, and President Donald Trump signed it into law. Figures had also voted against the House’s initial version of H.R. 5371 on Sept. 19, 2025, before it went to the Senate.
The final bill included $169.4 million for projects at military installations in Alabama. In the 2nd District, that included:
- Fort Rucker: $28.4 million for five projects.
- Maxwell Air Force Base: $4 million.
Figures also voted against H.R. 1968, the full-year appropriations measure that funded military construction and veterans affairs, along with most of the federal government, for fiscal 2025.
The fiscal 2027 defense authorization
In July 2026, Figures voted against the House version of the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 8800. The annual defense authorization bill sets policy and spending levels for the Department of Defense, while separate appropriations bills actually provide the money.
The House bill authorizes:
- $44 million for an addition to an elementary and middle school at Maxwell Air Force Base.
- $65 million to restructure the Military Housing Privatization Initiative for the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command.
Together with the $32.4 million in fiscal 2026 appropriations for Fort Rucker and Maxwell, those authorizations make up the $141.4 million total.
The installations
Fort Rucker, in Dale County in the Wiregrass, is the home of Army aviation and trains the service’s helicopter pilots. Earlier this month, the Army selected Fort Rucker as its center of excellence for drones and autonomous systems.
Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery is home to Air University, the Air Force’s center for professional military education, which operates under the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command. Maxwell-Gunter is one of Montgomery’s largest employers.
Both installations lie within the 2nd Congressional District as it was redrawn this year, which now includes Montgomery, Dothan and much of the Wiregrass. The bases are a major economic presence in the region, and support for them has long been a bipartisan priority for Alabama’s congressional delegation.
How military construction funding works
Military construction projects typically move through two separate tracks in Congress. The National Defense Authorization Act approves specific projects and sets maximum dollar amounts, while the annual Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill provides the money to build them. A project generally needs both before construction can proceed.
In recent years, Congress has often failed to pass all 12 regular appropriations bills on time, relying instead on continuing resolutions, omnibus packages or combinations of the two. That means military construction money is frequently tied to much larger bills that also cover unrelated agencies and policy disputes, and votes on those packages tend to fall along party lines.
The race
Figures, a former Obama White House and Justice Department official, was elected in 2024 under a court-ordered map. The district was redrawn earlier this year after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and it is now considered more favorable to Republicans. Recent polling and forecasters have described the race as close.
Marques, an Enterprise Republican who has served in the Alabama House since 2018 and has Trump’s endorsement, has campaigned on cutting taxes, helping small businesses and supporting the president’s agenda. Figures has campaigned on lowering costs, rural health care and support for farmers.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters must bring a valid photo ID and can confirm their polling place through the Alabama Secretary of State’s office.
