House Republicans narrowly passed this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Friday, authorizing $886 billion for 2024 and sending the bill on to the Senate despite objections from Democrats.
This must-pass legislation, typically a bipartisan effort, was slowed down this year by several controversial Republican previsions intended to counter President Joe Biden’s “woke” military agenda. The most hotly contested amendments were created to stop the Pentagon from reimbursing travel expenses for out-of-state abortions, limit medical coverage for transgender personnel, and shut down Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives in the military. The NDAA passed with a vote of 219-210 almost exactly along party lines, with only four Democrats voting in favor and four Republicans objecting. Two Democrats and three Republicans abstained from the vote.
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Democrat Congressional leadership is outraged over the passage of the bill, accusing Republicans of hijacking critical legislation to advance culture war issues. Washington’s Rep. Adam Smith (D) stated: “It’s really very disturbing how divisive all this has become, the degree to which the Republican majority wants to attack diversity. Bottom line. Attack trans people, attack women, attack people of color.” Smith further stated on the House floor that these amendments would only worsen the crisis of declining military recruitment.
Ahead of the vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries argued on Thursday that “House Republicans have turned what should be a meaningful investment in our men and women in uniform into an extreme and reckless legislative joyride. The bill undermines a woman’s freedom to seek abortion care, targets the rights of LGBTQ+ service members, and bans books that should otherwise be available to military families.”
Republicans, however, are celebrating the passage of the amendments, viewing this as a strike against the woke policies the Biden administration has forced onto the US military. “Under the leadership of Joe Biden, our military has been injected with woke ideology at the expense of our ability to combat China,” stated Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-OK). “Under this NDAA, our military’s primary focus will be combating threats from nations like China, Russia, and Iran — exactly what it should be.”
The NDAA discussion is now headed to the Senate, where debates are scheduled to begin next week. The Senate will work out its own defense bill — likely addressing many of the same anti-woke provisions — and then lawmakers will establish a working compromise between the two. While the abortion provision is likely to remain in place, the fate of DEI and transgender healthcare amendments are uncertain. Democrats anticipate that the Democrat-majority Senate will produce a version of the bill that waters down the contested provisions to an acceptable level. “We will have a chance to work with the Senate and bring a national security bill back that we can support,” declared House Minority Whip Katherine Clark.
With America’s military security at stake, it is unclear whether Republicans will be able to enforce the changes they’ve requested. But as international tensions escalate by the day, the military’s challenges on the ground are just as much of a problem as infighting politicians.
Patrick Bet-David just released a video breaking down some of the root causes of the military’s biggest crisis: Woke agendas.
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