SerpApi.Org
The House advanced its version of the National Defense Authorization Act in a razor-thin vote on Wednesday, attaching a number of partisan policy riders that are likely to be stripped out during negotiations with the Senate.
Lawmakers approved the defense funding framework in a mostly party-line vote as several Democrats opposed the inclusion of conservative amendments that were narrowly approved during a late-night session on Tuesday. Republicans also plan to attach the SAVE America Act to the defense bill when they send it to the Senate, further eroding support from their Democratic colleagues on what is typically considered a bipartisan bill.
Six Democrats voted with Republicans to advance the bill, counteracting the seven Republicans who opposed the measure — threatening its passage. The bill passed in a 216-212 vote.
All four members of Utah’s House delegation voted in favor of the measure.
The House NDAA seeks to authorize roughly $1.15 trillion for national defense spending, a $252 billion increase from last year’s budget. The framework includes a pay increase for service members, a replenishing of depleted stockpiles, an expansion of weapons and munitions production, and cuts to what the department considers wasteful spending, among other things.
The NDAA does not automatically greenlight defense spending. However, it authorizes the programs and policies that the defense appropriations bill can include in the Pentagon’s budget.
Tucked in the 1,600-page framework is language to formally change the name of the Defense Department to the Department of War, codifying a change pushed by President Donald Trump in his second term.
Controversial amendments erode Democratic support
The NDAA is a rare bipartisan jewel in an otherwise partisan-focused Congress. The framework has passed and become law every year for the last six decades through bipartisan negotiations.
However, this first iteration passed mostly along party lines due to a handful of conservative amendments that were attached the night before.
For example, Republicans narrowly approved an amendment prohibiting the healthcare program for uniformed service members, TRICARE, to cover certain gender-related medical procedures or treatments. That would include surgeries, puberty blockers, or transition-related hormones for service members or their dependents.
Lawmakers also attached an amendment to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports at any school operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity.
Still, several contentious amendments were shot down during debate on Tuesday, including a proposal to codify Trump’s executive order to ban transgender troops from serving in the military. That proposal, which was defeated in a 212-217 vote, sought to require service members to “serve in accordance with their biological sex.”
Lawmakers also opposed an amendment to eliminate funding for Ukraine security assistance, with an exception for security at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv.
Republicans attach election bill — that the Senate will likely remove
Democrats also oppose the House NDAA because of Republican leaders’ plans to attach the SAVE America Act to the underlying bill after final passage.
The SAVE America Act, which seeks to establish proof-of-citizenship and voter ID requirements for federal elections, has been a fixation for conservative Republicans in Congress for months. In an effort to squash an internal rebellion threatening the NDAA itself, GOP leaders promised to attach the election bill if conservative holdouts agreed to pass the defense framework.
But in their efforts to get GOP hardliners on board, it repelled Democratic support.
The paired bills now head to the Senate where the SAVE portion is likely to be removed anyway. The election bill has been stalled in the upper chamber for months due to a lack of Democratic support, which is necessary to overcome the 60-vote filibuster.
Senate GOP leaders have warned against merging the NDAA with the SAVE America Act, arguing it won’t muster enough support to pass.
Senators are already working on their own version of the NDAA which, if it passes, would be used to negotiate a compromise version with House lawmakers. The end product will likely not include any of the voter ID and election-related language.
“Well, if I thought there was a path to getting a positive result or a positive outcome, I’d want to do just about anything, as I think we all would here, in favor of the SAVE America Act,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters last week. “The folks that have consistently blocked it and voted against it are all the Democrats in the Senate. I think that’s unlikely to change, and it’s also very unlikely that Senate Republicans are going to vote to get rid of the legislative filibuster.”
The Senate failed to advance its version of the NDAA last week as Democrats protest the ongoing war in Iran.
