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The House advanced the annual defense policy bill Tuesday, moving the mammoth measure up for a final vote later this week.
The chamber voted 211-207 along party lines to approve the rule, which governs debate for legislation, for the expansion bill, formally opening debate in the chamber. The House is expected to vote on final approval this week, which will require majority support in the chamber, before sending the legislation to the Senate before a year-end deadline.
The bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), has a budget of $883.7 billion and includes bipartisan provisions such as a 19.5 percent pay increase for junior enlisted service members, increasing the US presence in the Indo-Pacific and funding the construction of seven new ships.
However, it contains some GOP-led amendments related to culture war issues that are drawing opposition among Democrats and threatening to make the measure typically bipartisan. more partisan than usual.
The measure, for example, included language that would restrict the use of funds from TRICARE, the health care program for active-duty service members, from being used to cover gender-affirming care for children transgender under the age of 18.
Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, did not say how he plans to vote, but criticized the transgender provision in a statement.
“Blankly denying health care to people who clearly need it, just because of a notion biased against transgender people, is wrong,” Smith wrote. “This provision injected a level of partisanship not traditionally seen in defense bills. Speaker Johnson is checking with the more extreme elements of his party to ensure he retains his position as speaker. By doing- ho, has turned what had been a bipartisan process on its head.”
The NDAA also includes an amendment that would restrict the Department of Defense from establishing new positions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for one year after the legislation is passed.
Congress leaders introduced the legislation over the weekend after months of bipartisan and bicameral negotiations. House Republicans passed their own version of the NDAA in June, and the Senate Armed Services Committee advanced its version that same month, forcing congressional leaders to craft a compromise product, which is the sequence typical of NDAA events.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) praised the compromise measure Tuesday, telling reporters at a press conference surrounded by other GOP leadership: “We are proud of this product.”
“The safety and security of the American people is our highest priority, and this year’s NDAA ensures that our military has the resources and capabilities necessary to remain the most powerful fighting force on the planet,” he added .
