A compromise version of the annual defense policy bill that has passed the House stripped out scores of hot-button measures from including women in the military draft to revoking the 2002 authorization for the Iraq war.
A big item that survived the drawn-out haggling over the legislation was a $25 billion boost to the Pentagon budget that President Biden didn’t ask for.
The $768 billion bill is now headed for final passage in the Senate.
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The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the House on Tuesday by a wide 363-70 margin. After repeated delays in the Senate, the legislation was kicked to backroom negotiators who scrambled to get the must-pass bill across the finish line before year’s end.
“This bill represents a compromise between both parties and chambers – as a result, every single member involved has something in it they like and something that didn’t get into the bill that they wish had. This year’s procedural realities made the entire process exponentially more difficult,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, Washington Democrat.
Key among items excluded in the final version was a provision that would have required women to register for and be subject to the military draft if it is reinstated.
Supporters of the change note the rising number of women already serving in the military and that virtually all military assignments, including combat jobs, are being filled by both sexes.
Lawmakers also yanked sanctions against Russian’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that runs undersea from Russia to Germany, which critics fear will strengthen Moscow’s hand in Western Europe.
The latest version also dampens a sweeping military justice overhaul proposal put forward by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Democrat, which would have removed convening authority for all major crimes from unit commanders.
The measure was opposed by senior military leaders, who said the overhaul would negatively impact unit culture and discipline. The final version places several major crimes including rape, sexual assault and murder, in the hands of specialized military prosecutors, but stops short of removing military commanders’ decision-making authority on all major crimes.
The final version leaves intact language to boost next year’s defense budget by $25 billion, a key win for Republicans and a setback for House progressives who fought for a lower spending total.
Two California Democrats — Rep. Barbara Lee, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Sara Jacobs, who also sits on the appropriations panel — proposed an amendment during the House’s first pass on the NDAA to delete the $25 billion increase, but were voted down by a 286-to-142 vote.
The House also decisively nixed a separate measure to impose a further 10% haircut to Mr. Biden’s proposal, which was offered by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat. That vote was 332-86.
Sen. Bernard Sanders, the Vermont independent who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, introduced similar measures in the Senate to block the $25 billion plus-up and further reduce the Pentagon budget below President Biden’s proposal.
The spending boost is a loud rebuke of Mr. Biden’s proposed Pentagon budget which trailed inflation, and which many lawmakers said would leave the Pentagon flat-footed in countering the growing threats from Russia and China.
The Senate is expected to pass the updated version of the bill in the coming days.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, faced bipartisan backlash as the bill languished in the upper chamber after the House passed its version in September.
Lawmakers were forced to go back to the drawing board after the NDAA hit an impasse in the Senate over Republicans’ objections to Democratic proposals to advance the legislation without allowing votes on key GOP amendments.
“Because enacting the NDAA in a timely manner is critical, the two bills were combined through a series of negotiations led by the leadership of the HASC and SASC,” a spokesperson for the two committees said Tuesday in a statement. “Negotiators considered proposals offered by members of both parties that were filed in the Senate.”
A compromise version of the annual defense policy bill that has passed the House stripped out scores of hot-button measures from including women in the military draft to revoking the 2002 authorization for the Iraq war.
A big item that survived the drawn-out haggling over the legislation was a $25 billion boost to the Pentagon budget that President Biden didn’t ask for.
The $768 billion bill is now headed for final passage in the Senate.
The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the House by a wide 363-70 margin. After repeated delays in the Senate, the legislation was kicked to backroom negotiators who scrambled to get the must-pass bill across the finish line before year’s end.
“This bill represents a compromise between both parties and chambers – as a result, every single member involved has something in it they like and something that didn’t get into the bill that they wish had. This year’s procedural realities made the entire process exponentially more difficult,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, Washington Democrat.
Key among items excluded in the final version was a provision that would have required women to register for and be subject to the military draft if it is reinstated.
Supporters of the change note the rising number of women already serving in the military and that virtually all military assignments, including combat jobs, are being filled by both sexes.
Lawmakers also yanked sanctions against Russian’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that runs undersea from Russia to Germany, which critics fear will strengthen Moscow’s hand in Western Europe.
The final version also damped a sweeping military justice overhaul proposal put forward by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Democrat, which would have removed prosecution authority for all felonies from unit commanders.
The measure was opposed by senior military leaders, who said the overhaul would negatively impact unit culture and discipline. The final version removes several major crimes including rape, sexual assault, and murder, from military commanders’ prosecution authority, but stops short of all felonies.
The final version leaves intact language to boost next year’s defense budget by $25 billion, a key win for Republicans and a setback for House progressives who fought for a lower spending total.
Two California Democrats — Rep. Barbara Lee, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Sara Jacobs, who also sits on the appropriations panel — proposed an amendment during the House’s first pass on the NDAA to delete the $25 billion increase, but were voted down by a 286-to-142 vote.
The House also decisively nixed a separate measure to impose a further 10% haircut to Mr. Biden’s proposal, which was offered by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat. That vote was 332-86.
Sen. Bernard Sanders, the Vermont independent who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, introduced similar measures in the Senate to block the $25 billion plus-up and further reduce the Pentagon budget below President Biden’s proposal.
The spending boost is a loud rebuke of Mr. Biden’s proposed Pentagon budget which trailed inflation, and which many lawmakers said would leave the Pentagon flat-footed in countering the growing threats from Russia and China.
The Senate is expected to pass the updated version of the bill in the coming days.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, faced bipartisan backlash as the bill languished in the upper chamber after the House passed its version in September.
Lawmakers were forced to go back to the drawing board after the NDAA hit an impasse in the Senate over Republicans’ objections to Democratic proposals to advance the legislation without allowing votes on key GOP amendments.
“Because enacting the NDAA in a timely manner is critical, the two bills were combined through a series of negotiations led by the leadership of the HASC and SASC,” a spokesperson for the two committees said Tuesday in a statement. “Negotiators considered proposals offered by members of both parties that were filed in the Senate.”