On Thursday, Congressional Republicans added several partisan amendments to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, including one overturning the DoD policy on abortions. The amended NDAA passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday.
President Joe Biden said it is “irresponsible” for U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville to block the confirmation of military officers in protest of a Defense Department policy that pays for travel for service members and their dependents to go out of state to get an abortion in state’s that have banned or restricted elective abortions.
“He’s jeopardizing U.S. security by what he’s doing,” Biden said of Sen. Tommy Tuberville. “It’s just totally irresponsible, in my view.”
Biden had demanded that Republicans address the Tuberville issue.
“I expect the Republican Party to stand up — stand up and do something about it,” Biden continued. “The idea that we don’t have a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the idea that we have all these promotions that are in abeyance right now and we don’t know what’s going to happen, the idea they were injecting into fundamental foreign policy decisions what in fact is a domestic social debate on social issues, is bizarre. I don’t ever recall it happening, ever. And it’s just totally irresponsible, in my view.”
“I’m confident that the mainstream Republican Party no longer, does not support what he’s doing, but they got to stand up and be counted,” Biden said. “That’s how it ends.”
House Republicans responded Thursday by amending the NDAA on the House floor.
The House passed an amendment by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) prohibiting the Secretary of Defense from paying for or reimbursing expenses relating to abortion services 221 – 213. Only two Republicans voted against including Jackson’s abortion amendment.
The House also passed several other GOP priorities.
The House passed an amendment by Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Montana) that prohibits TRICARE from covering and the Department of Defense from furnishing sex reassignment surgeries and gender hormone treatments for transgender individuals 222 – 211.
The House passed an amendment by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina) prohibiting the provision of gender transition procedures, including surgery or medication, through the Exceptional Family Member Program 222 to 210.
The House passed an amendment to prohibit federal funds from being used to establish a position within the Department of Defense for anything similar to Chief Diversity Officers or Senior Advisors for Diversity and Inclusion 217 – 212.
The House passed an amendment by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) prohibiting the Department of Defense Education Activity schools from purchasing and having pornographic and radical gender ideology books in their libraries.
The House passed an amendment by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) that requires a study and report on health conditions arising in members of the Armed Forces after the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine by a voice vote.
Rep. Boebert proposed an amendment prohibiting Defense Department schools from having “pornographic and radical gender ideology books in their libraries.” That passed 222-209.
Rep. Norman’s amendment to ban Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Department of Defense was narrowly adopted 214-213 on the second vote.
An amendment from Rep. Eli Crane (R-Arizona) prohibiting the Pentagon from requiring training in certain “race-based concepts” was adopted 214-210.
Not all amendments passed.
A series of five proposals to limit U.S. involvement in Ukraine failed.
An amendment from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) to prohibit using federal funds for training on diversity, equity, and inclusion was rejected Thursday in a 210-221 vote.
The House rejected an amendment from Reps. Davidson and Chip Roy (R-Texas) that “expresses a sense of Congress that the U.S. should not continue subsidizing NATO member countries who choose not to invest in their own defense by meeting” established financial contribution targets. The vote was 212-218, with two Democrats voting to support the measure and eight Republicans voting against it.
An amendment to prohibit the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine was rejected 147-276-2. 98 Republicans and 49 Democrats voted in favor, and 121 Republicans and 155 Democrats voted against.
The House rejected an amendment prohibiting using federal funds to rename military bases.
The Republican changes to the NDAA meant that it lost Democratic support in the final vote.
Democrats denounced the amendment as a cruel, harmful amendment to roll back a DoD policy helping service women travel to get the reproductive health care they need, putting the health and lives of over 230,000 women in uniform at risk. Democrats also denounced amendments that strip medically-necessary care for LGBTQ+ service members.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL07) voted against the NDAA due to the Republican changes on the floor.
“For the past 62 years, Republicans and Democrats have come together to craft bipartisan defense authorization bills that would support our troops and strengthen our national security,” said Rep. Sewell. “But this year, rather than continuing that essential tradition, Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy has caved to the most extreme members of his party and allowed the radical right wing to poison the defense bill with culture war provisions that would undermine our military readiness and harm our service members.”
“I did not take this vote lightly,” continued Sewell. “I have proudly voted in favor of the annual defense bill every year since coming to Congress. But I cannot and will not support a bill that would rip basic health care away from our service members and make bigotry and discrimination a centerpiece of our defense policy. Republicans need to stop playing politics with our national security.”
The NDAA authorizes funding levels for the Department of Defense (DoD) and allows the Armed Forces to pay, train, and equip U.S. service members, support America’s allies worldwide, and carry out essential national security operations.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts), and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-California) released a joint statement after the chamber approved a number of conservative amendments to the NDAA.
“Extreme MAGA Republicans have chosen to hijack the historically bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act to continue attacking reproductive freedom and jamming their right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people,” the Democratic trio wrote in a joint statement.
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