House passage of defense spending bill sets up culture war battles with the Senate

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a defense spending package laden with social provisions and conservative agenda items that is sure to set up a fight with the Democratic-led Senate ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The lower chamber approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a 281-140 vote, with 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans opposing the measure. The NDAA is one of the 12 annual appropriations bills that Congress must pass to fund the government and it is not uncommon for the incumbent party to attempt to pass other agenda items as riders with this “must pass” legislation.

“This legislation includes House-passed provisions to restore our focus on military lethality and to end the radical woke ideology being imposed on our military by permanently banning transgender medical treatment for minors and countering antisemitism,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement.

Earlier this week, the House Rules Committee cleared the nearly $900 billion legislation for a floor vote, which includes provisions addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, cuts for obsolete programs, and a ban on contracting with firms that boycott Israel. Apart from the conventional military funding, the bill this year also includes a substantial pay raise for junior grade enlisted personnel and a provision barring military healthcare provider Tricare from providing “gender-affirming care” to the children of military service members.

The latter provision has upset House Democrats, who nonetheless expected the bill to pass through the lower chamber. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been adamant about including the provision in the measure, despite reservations from even some Republicans.

House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers, R-Ala., predicted the vote would “be close” in part due to the provision. Speaking to Punchbowl News, Rogers opined that Trump was poised to address the issue on his own and the provision therefore didn’t need to be in the final measure. 

Trump “is going to stop all these social, cultural issues from being embedded as policies. So my point is, I don’t know why this is going to be in the bill when on Jan. 20, it’s a moot point,” he added.

During the first administration, Trump’s Department of Defense imposed a limited ban on transgender service in the military, when James Mattis led the Pentagon. The Biden administration reversed the policy, though Republican lawmakers in both chambers have attempted to reimplement limited restrictions. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., last year, for instance, introduced a bill to bar individuals with a history of gender dysphoria or who have had a sex-change from military service.

Some Democrats have spoken out against the trans-care measure’s inclusion in the NDAA, arguing that it could endanger young children by denying them access to necessary treatments. “Blanketly denying health care to people who need it—just because of a biased notion against transgender people—is wrong,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said in a statement. “The inclusion of this harmful provision puts the lives of children at risk and may force thousands of service members to make the choice of continuing their military service or leaving to ensure their child can get the health care they need.”

Despite the legislation’s bipartisan and “must pass” nature, Democrats did not work overtime to bolster support for the NDAA, seemingly acknowledging that the content of the bill puts some Democrats in a bind.

“We’re not whipping on the National Defense Authorization Act. It’s a member-to-member, case-by-case analysis in terms of people making decisions as to what is the right thing to do,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said this week.

The number of dissident Democrats in the lower chamber suggests that Johnson’s legislation is poised to face an uphill battle in the Senate, where Democrats will retain the majority until January. The bill the House approved this week was the result of bipartisan negotiations with Senate lawmakers, who grappled with Johnson over in-vitro fertilization, the trans restrictions, and other provisions involving Tricare, NBC News reported.

But even with both chambers agreeing upon the bill prior to the vote, those provisions are likely to prompt a number of comparable dissent voters, which in a narrowly divided, 51-49 Senate, could make or break the legislation and risk a lull in defense funding.