The Senatevoted to advance his annual $895 billion defense policy bill, a signal that the legislation is on track despite Democratic grumbling over a transgender health care provision.
A vote to invoke cloture, or adopt an agreement to limit debate, on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the Senate on a 63-7 vote Monday evening. The bill now heads to a final vote later this week.
The legislation has been passed the House 281-140 last week, with 16 Republicans voting no. Only 81 Democrats voted yes — 124 voted no — a much wider margin than in years gone by when the legislation typically enjoyed bipartisan support.
The 1,800-page bill details how the $895.2 billion allocated for defense and national security will be spent. It will be voted on more than two months after the start of the budget year.
The $895.2 billion represents a 1% increase over last year’s budget, a smaller number than some defense hawks would have liked.
Aerial view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2024. The Pentagon, home to the United States Department of Defense, is one of the world’s largest office buildings. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)
A significant portion of the legislation was aimed at improving the quality of life of military personnel in the past recruitment problemsa focus of many bipartisan discussions over the past year. That includes a 14.5% pay increase for junior enlisted troops and increasing access to child care for service members, while also providing job support for military spouses.
The measure allows a general wage increase of 4.5% for all service employees from January 1.
The NDAA typically enjoys broad bipartisan support, but this year’s focus on eliminating “woke” policies has been difficult for some Democrats to stomach.
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The policy proposal to ban Tricare, the military’s health care provider, from providing transgender services to servicemembers’ minor dependents has raised concerns, prompting the leading Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington to reconsider his support. for the bill.
“It is wrong to deny health care to people who clearly need it just because of a biased view of transgender people,” he said in a statement. “This provision introduced a level of partisanship not traditionally found in defense legislation.”
The purpose of that provision is to prevent “medical interventions that could lead to sterilization” of minors.
Other provisions, such as a blanket ban on funding gender transition operations for adults, did not make it into the bill, nor did a ban on mandating masks to prevent the spread of disease.
The bill also supports the use of National Guard to the southern border to assist with the apprehension of illegal immigrants and the flow of drugs.
Another provision opens the door to allowing pilots and Space Force personnel to grow facial hair; it directs the secretary of the Air Force to brief lawmakers on “the feasibility and desirability” of establishing a pilot program to test out allowing beards.
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Democrats are also angry that the bill did not include a provision expanding access to IVF for military personnel. Currently, military health care only covers IVF for troops whose infertility is related to service-related illnesses or injuries.
But the bill did not include an amendment to roll back a provision that allows the Pentagon to reimburse service members who must leave the state to travel abroad. get an abortion.
The bill extends the hiring freeze for DEI-related positions and halts all such hiring until “an investigation into the Pentagon’s DEI programs” can be completed.
It also bans the Defense Department from contracting with advertising companies “that blacklist conservative news sources,” according to a US newspaper internal GOP memo.
The memo noted that the NDAA will also fund the Biden administration’s Countering Extremist Activity Working Group, which is committed to rooting out extremism in the ranks of the military. The annual defense policy bill also does not authorize “climate change programs” and prohibits the Pentagon from issuing climate impact-based guidance on weapons systems.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., touted $31 billion in savings in the legislation that would come from cutting “inefficient programs, outdated weapons and bloated Pentagon bureaucracy.”
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The compromise NDAA bill negotiated by Republican and Democratic leaders sets policy for the nation’s largest government agency, but a separate defense spending bill would need to be passed to free up money for such programs.
