WASHINGTON − Congress is one step closer to finalizing an annual defense policy bill after the Senate Thursday evening passed its own version in the race to authorize funding before the upper chamber begins its six-week summer recess.
The National Defense Authorization Act cleared the Senate’s 60-vote threshold by 86-11.
The NDAA is a must-pass bill that helps set the Pentagon’s policy agenda and authorize how the Defense Department can use federal funding. It does not provide funding to the Department of Defense, but instead authorizes how the money can be spent, a first step toward allocating funds set to expire on Sept. 30.
The House last week passed its own version of the bill, which normally moves forward in both chambers with bipartisan support. But this year, legislation faced debates from conservative House members over contentious amendments ranging from the Pentagon’s abortion policy to reeling back climate change initiatives.
Both versions of the bill include President Joe Biden’s proposed 5.2% pay raise for federal workers and military members, and they’re both close to Biden’s recommended budget of $886 billion for the Department of Defense.
Only four Democrats supported the NDAA in the House. In the week-long leadup to the Senate passage, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., touted the bipartisan approach from lawmakers in the upper chamber.
“What’s happening in the Senate is a stark contrast to a bipartisan race to the bottom we saw in the House where House Republicans are pushing partisan legislation that has zero chance of passing,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday morning. “House Republicans should look to the Senate to see how things get done.”
He called the bipartisan process a “glimmer of hope” for Americans.
“A bipartisan process is precisely what the American people are yearning for in a fractured Congress,” he said.
More:House passes controversial Defense bill after clashes over abortion, climate change and Ukraine policies
Senate passes amendments on debt collector harassment, China
The Senate held votes on dozens of amendments this week, including many that failed to pass. That includes a proposal from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who sought to reinstate service members separated from the military because of their COVID-19 vaccine status. An amendment from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to cut military spending by 10% also failed.
Schumer offered Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who has held up military nominations in response to a Pentagon policy that offers travel reimbursements for troops who cross state lines for an abortion, an amendment vote on the issue, but Tuberville insisted the Pentagon first rescind the policy before voting on turning it into law, Politico reported.
But overall, Schumer called the amendment process in the Senate “open and constructive” and said both sides have worked in “good faith.”
Some amendments that passed include:
- Establishing a process for U.S. firms to notify federal departments of investments in Chinese technologies
- Banning China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from buying farmland in the U.S.
- Restricting the types of communications debt collectors can use to contact military members
- Reauthorizing the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act, which would fund a voluntary registry of firefighters to track cancer cases
House GOP makes concessions
In the House last week, members of the House Freedom Caucus pressured House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to hold last-minute floor votes on several contentious amendments, ranging from targeting the Pentagon’s abortion policy to reversing climate change initiatives.
House Republicans managed to push through the NDAA with only four Democrats voting in support.
The amendments endangered final passage of the legislation, and face an uphill ballot in the Senate.
Defense authorization bill leaves out oversight for Ukraine funding
When senators return to Washington after their August recess, the Biden administration is expected to push lawmakers to pass a supplemental spending bill to provide Ukraine with military aid, as the NDAA is not expected to be sufficient to fund Kyiv as it stages a counteroffensive against Russia.
Republican senators, however, attempted to pass an amendment from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that would have authorized $10 million to establish an office to provide oversight of U.S. aid to Ukraine. The push failed to pass.
Hawley told USA TODAY that his amendment’s failure “absolutely” changed whether he might support a supplemental defense bill for Ukraine.
“I’m not gonna vote for billions more dollars of taxpayer money to go to Ukraine when we can’t even track where it’s going,” Hawley said.
He added his amendment’s failure suggests that Democratic leadership “don’t want to know where the money goes.”
“If you want to get the facts, you get the facts,” Hawley added. “And this Congress doesn’t want the facts.”
The U.S. government has spent more than $100 billion on military and non-military aid for Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Republican lawmakers and voters have become increasingly wary of sending more funding to Ukraine without sufficient oversight.
What happens next?
The House and the Senate will now work to find a compromise on the NDAA that can pass in both chambers. The House’s version of the bill has some culture war provisions − like restrictions on transgender medical care and reductions to diversity programs − that, if included, likely won’t pass with the Democratic Senate majority.
Once lawmakers from both chambers find a compromise, when Congress is back in session in September, the bill will advance to Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
Ken Tran contributed to this reporting.
