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Congressional negotiators face obstacles over divisive and culture-war amendments to a 1,800-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that lays out the US’s core national security priorities.
The $883.7 billion NDAA includes widely supported measures such as increasing the US presence in the Indo-Pacific, troop pay increases, funding the construction of seven new ships and strengthening the defense industrial base.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the NDAA for fiscal year 2025, which sets priorities for Congress to fund in separate defense appropriations bills, “refocuses our military on its core mission to defend the United States and its interests around the world.”
“This legislation also strengthens our commitment to America’s brave men and women in uniform and their families, making important investments in their quality of life.” he said in a statement.
But the legislation includes language that Democrats already oppose, including restrictions on coverage of gender-affirmation care for transgender children of service members and a provision aimed at reducing diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the military.
The House plans to tentatively vote on the NDAA on Wednesday, although that depends on the bill passing the Rules Committee on Monday evening.
Here’s what to know about the NDAA and the key battles ahead as both the House and Senate prepare to vote on the bill.
Transgender restrictions
The most controversial amendment in the defense bill is a restriction on the children of US military personnel from receiving medical treatment if they are diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Democrats have criticized the provision as targeting transgender youth.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Johnson is “competing with the most extreme elements of his party to make sure he retains his position as speaker “, accusing him of wrecking a typical bipartisan process. .
“Blankly denying health care to people who clearly need it, just because of a notion biased against transgender people, is wrong.” Smith said in a statement. “This provision injected a level of partisanship not traditionally seen in defense bills.”
The pro-LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign accused Republicans of “playing politics with the health care of military children.”
“This is not leadership, it is bullying, and it is a direct attack on military families,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson. in a statement. “This cruel and hateful law suddenly removes access to health care for the families of members of our armed forces, and could force service members to choose between staying in the military or providing assistance healthcare to their children”.
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The NDAA also has an amendment targeting the DEI, which Republicans have long criticized for focusing the military on race, gender identity and sexual orientation rather than military strength.
The bill restricts the Department of Defense from creating new DEI-related positions one year after the passage of the NDAA.
It’s unclear whether Democrats are prepared to oppose the measure, but they have resisted GOP attempts to ban DEI initiatives in the past.
GOP lawmakers, meanwhile, may allow the more controversial “culture war” provisions to be left out of the bill to pass, in anticipation that the incoming Trump administration will trim those policies when it takes office in January.
IVF treatment
During discussions of the NDAA between the House Armed Services Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, some lawmakers had asked to keep in the bill the inclusion of expanded IVF treatment coverage in the health service military, TRICARE.
Specifically, lawmakers wanted TRICARE to fully cover IVF, similar to civilian federal employees. But the amendment is not included in the final NDAA package.
That was a particularly big issue for Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who had called for its inclusion.
Now that it was left out, it could prompt some lawmakers to push for the amendment to be included again.
Quality of life wins
Both Republicans and Democrats praised the NDAA’s efforts to increase the quality of life for service members after recommendations from a bipartisan panel formed last year were included in the bill.
Among the biggest wins for both parties is a 14.5 percent pay raise for enlisted service members, a major new proposal this year that a bipartisan group of lawmakers had pushed along with military organizations. All service members would get a 4.5% pay raise.
Another measure in the bill would expand eligibility for the Basic Needs Allowance for service members by raising the income limit from 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines to 200 percent. The scholarship is intended to alleviate food insecurity.
The bill also includes several provisions aimed at improving barracks on military installations, including providing free wireless Internet, a requirement for the Pentagon to create a digital system for maintenance requests and the authorization of $1.2 billion to renovate and build new barracks.
Other provisions would allow service members to seek specialty health care without referrals, make it easier for military spouses to transfer professional licenses between states and require daycare workers to be paid a wage competitive with the private sector.
Other measures
The NDAA also has several other amendments introduced separately by conservatives and Democrats and some defended by both parties.
Johnson pointed to several amendments that he said were victories for the GOP.
One provision would bar the Defense Department from working with vendors that have boycotted Israel, and another prohibits the Pentagon from contracting with advertising companies that blacklist conservative news sources.
This year, lawmakers also cut about $35 billion from the NDAA in what Johnson said were wasteful or inefficient programs at the Pentagon.
House Democrats, who said they blocked several controversial amendments to the NDAA during the conference call, praised the amendments for expanding the Pentagon’s efforts to mitigate exposure to blasts.
Democrats also pointed to amendments to require the Pentagon to come up with a plan to address deficiencies with the F-35 program and to increase oversight and competition with the Sentinel nuclear missile program.
The bill also increases U.S. funding to the Indo-Pacific to counter China, provides $17.5 billion for military construction projects, and creates a Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, modeled after a of Ukraine that allows the US to buy from private industry for an ally.
It also calls for the construction of seven battle force ships, including a Virginia-class submarine, the procurement of about 200 aircraft and more than 300 land vehicles.
