The House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act in a nearly party-line vote on Friday.
This bill, which authorizes $886 billion in national defense for the next fiscal year, contained a number of provisions favoring the GOP’s stance on a variety of social debates, including the Pentagon’s diversity and inclusion efforts, abortion policy, and transgender topics. Those amendments, which didn’t garner support from Democrats as they voted on hundreds of amendments leading up to the vote, dissuaded Democrats from supporting the legislation altogether.
The vote was 219-210 in favor of passing the bill, which included four Democrats who voted in favor of it and four Republicans who voted against it. Democratic Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME), Don Davis (D-NC), Marie G. Perez (D-WA), and Gabe Vasquez (D-TX) voted in favor of the NDAA while Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Ken Buck, (R-CO), and Eli Crane (R-AZ) voted against it.
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Reps. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Subcommittee ranking members Joe Courtney (D-CT), John Garamendi (D-CA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) announced their intention to vote against the bill, which all but Khanna voted in favor of to leave committee, on Thursday night.
“What was once an example of compromise and functioning government has become an ode to bigotry and ignorance. Attacks on reproductive rights, access to basic health care, and efforts to address our country’s history of racism and marginalization of huge swaths of our country will worsen our recruitment and retention crisis, make our military less capable, and do grievous harm to our national defense and national security,” they wrote. “For these reasons, we cannot and will not vote for the NDAA as amended on the House floor.”
Republicans voted on Thursday night to include amendments on the must-pass defense legislation that effectively overruled the Department of Defense’s policies regarding access to reproductive healthcare following the reversal of Roe v. Wade. While the Pentagon only pays for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is at risk, the department announced earlier this year it would reimburse service members’ or dependents’ travel expenses should they have to go out of state.
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GOP officials have been critical of the policy for months, with Sen. Tommy Tuberville choosing to hold up approximately 260 military nominations and promotions over it.
Republicans also sought to and were able to attach amendments to the bill that ends coverage of gender transition surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender troops and one that blocks the department’s diversity, equity, and inclusion training.
While the House GOP celebrated the victory, the Democratic-controlled Senate will work to pass its own version of the NDAA, which will almost certainly not include many of these provisions. The final bill will be a compromise of both versions.
