July 14, 2023
We’ve been talking a lot about the US military lately.
And today the house passed a bill that dives head first into some of the most controversial military issues like abortion and transgender health. And this sets up a showdown with the senate.
Before I tell you about those controversial pieces of the bill – you have to understand what the National Defense Authorization bill is. It’s a must-pass annual piece of legislation that governs the policies of the military and most importantly the spending levels for the military. For decades the NDAA– as it’s know – has passed with overwhelming numbers of both republicans and Democrats supporting it. Today – it narrowly passed the house 219 to 210 with only four Democrats voting yes.
The NDAA that passed with almost all Republican votes includes $886 billion for defense discretionary spending. That’s $28 billion *more* than last year. It also includes a 5.2% pay raise for military personnel and expands support for their families through housing improvements, and broader access to child care, health care and education benefits. It includes provisions to counter China’s influence, improve overall military readiness and missile defense capabilities and promote technological innovation. It also cuts funding for what the republican leadership says are “inefficient defense programs, obsolete weapons systems in Pentagon bureaucracy.” All those things passed with Democrat support through committee…
But it was the republican amendments added to the NDAA that caused he democrats to pull their support. According to the Republican leadership says the amendments are getting rid of so-called “woke” policies including rolling back pentagon policies that allow servicewomen to travel out of state to obtain an abortion, stripping the funding of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs operated throughout the Defense Department and prohibiting specialized health care sought by transgender troops, veterans or their families.
As I said at the beginning – this now sets up a showdown with the senate which will take up its own version of the NDAA next week. The Democrat-controlled senate will not approve any of those controversial amendments passed by the house today. So in the end the house and senate will have to reach a deal and find a compromise between the two bills. That’s going to be very difficult to do and in the meantime the livelihoods of all our military members hangs in the balance.
