CONGRESS TO TAKE UP DEFENSE BILL NEXT WEEK
Contentious GOP demands stripped from measure
Congress is expected to begin voting next week on the final version of its annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which brought the U.S. military and national security spending more broadly to the main stage of America’s culture wars over the summer.
The $886 billion package, compromise legislation agreed to by negotiators from the Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate, strips away a number of contentious provisions — such as restricting U.S. service members’ access to abortion — that hard-right lawmakers had rammed into the lower chamber’s bill despite withering complaints from members of both parties.
If it passes, as appears likely, the outcome will symbolize a defeat for the GOP’s right flank. Already, some of the party’s most outspoken figures — including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a firebrand who advocated some of the most divisive proposals — have denounced the final product as a “total sellout of conservative principles.”
In a video posted this week to X, formerly known as Twitter, Greene declared herself a “flat-out no” when it comes
time to vote: “I think it’s outrageous that this happened with our Republican controlled Congress.”
The Senate is due to vote on the measure first, followed by the House.
Greene and other House Republican hard-liners successfully maneuvered over the summer to load its version of the bill with provisions that would have rolled back a Pentagon policy of reimbursing travel expenses incurred by service members who travel out of state to obtain an abortion; prohibited specialized health care sought by transgender troops or military dependents; and ended Defense Department diversity programs.
Democrats called the initiatives non-starters and condemned the “extremists” responsible for having “hijacked” what for decades has
been a resoundingly bipartisan demonstration of support for the military. Some moderate Republicans, meanwhile, openly cheered for the Senate to come forward with a less-polarizing bill. Analysts wondered whether this would be the first year in decades that Congress failed to pass an NDAA.
In a statement, the top Republicans and Democrats serving on the Senate and House armed services committees hailed the “months of hard-fought and productive negotiations” that resulted in what they called a bipartisan measure that “strengthens our national security and supports our servicemembers.” The statement was attributed to Sen. Jack Reed, DR.I.; Sen. Roger Wicker, RMiss.; Rep. Mike Rogers, RAla.; and Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash.
“We urge Congress to pass the NDAA quickly and President Biden to sign it when it reaches his desk,” the lawmakers said.
The 3,000-page legislative package includes a 5.2 percent pay raise for military personnel and Defense Department employees; expands military cooperation with allied nations in the Indo-Pacific, a move aimed at countering an increasingly assertive China; and bolsters support for Taiwan.
Notably, it also extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, the vehicle through which the administration has helped support Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia, through fiscal 2027. However, the bulk of any future Ukraine aid — part of Biden’s emergency national security funding request — remains mired in partisan battles and appears unlikely to pass Congress this year, if at all.
The defense policy bill also includes an amendment to the law, drafted by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that would prevent any U.S. president from withdrawing from NATO without congressional approval, a measure that has gained traction with the specter of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Trump has been highly critical of the alliance and, while in office, mused about withdrawing the United States.