Washington – The House approved the massive $895 billion National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday after a controversial provision on gender-affirming care sparked a sharp reaction from Democrats and threats to derail the bill's chances of passage in the House. Gave.
In a vote of 281 to 140, the House approved 1,800-page national security legislation to authorize funding for the Defense Department for fiscal year 2025. While most Democrats opposed the bill, 81 joined with 200 Republicans in supporting its passage. Only 16 Republicans opposed this legislation. Now it will go to the Senate for approval.
The vote came after leaders in Congress reached an agreement over the weekend on the legislation, which typically passes with wide bipartisan margins. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries acknowledged before Wednesday's vote that there are “a lot of positive things” within the NDAA, which was negotiated in a bipartisan manner, but that there are also some “troubling” provisions.
Jefferies said Democrats did not whip the NDAA vote, saying it would be a “member-by-member, case-by-case” decision.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson praised the legislation Tuesday, saying it “includes an important victory at a very important time for our troops and our country.”
Johnson cited a 14.5% pay raise for junior service members and better housing for military families. And he celebrated, among other things, the expansion of US joint military exercises with Israel and increased funding for defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific.
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“The safety and security of the American people is our top priority,” Johnson said at a news conference. He said he expected a “big” vote in favor of the legislation. “And this year's NDAA ensures that our military has the resources and capabilities needed to remain the most powerful fighting force on the planet.”
Louisiana Republicans also condemned the controversial provisions, including how the law restricts Funding for gender-affirming care for the children of military members and the teaching of “Critical Race Theory” at military academies was halted. He said House Republicans “killed the DEI bureaucracy” with the bill.
The provisions, particularly on gender-affirming care, jeopardized the NDAA's prospects in the House on Wednesday, while some prominent Democrats spoke in opposition.
Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, acknowledged several bipartisan wins in the final version of the NDAA. statement When the text of the legislation was released. He said Democrats “succeeded in blocking several harmful provisions that attack DEI programs, the LGBTQ community, and women's access to reproductive health care.” But he said the provision banning gender-affirming care is “wrong”.
The provision, which applies to the military's health care program, outlines that “medical intervention for the treatment of gender dysphoria that may result in sterilization may not be provided to a child under 18 years of age.”
Smith said this stipulation “has given rise to a partisan spirit not traditionally seen in defense bills.”
Smith said, “Speaker Johnson is helping the most extreme elements of his party to ensure that he retains the speakership. By doing so, he has subverted the bipartisan process.”
House Republicans chose Johnson as their choice for speaker in the next Congress during a leadership election last month. But Louisiana Republicans will still need to secure House majority support in the new year. With razor-thin majorities, speaker elections have created difficulties for Republicans in recent years, while a group on the right wing of the party has worked to extract concessions for their support.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump and his allies leaned into anti-trans rhetoric on the campaign trail in the lead up to the 2024 election. And since then, House Republicans have led an effort Limit single-sex bathroom use Users conformed to their “biological gender” after the first transgender person at the Capitol complex elected to congress,