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The National Defense Authorization Act was narrowly passed by the House of Representatives on Friday (July 14) after Republicans added amendments targeting abortion, transgender care, and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
One of the amendments reverses a Defense Department policy that reimburses service members for expenses they incur if they have to travel out of state for an abortion. Another amendment bans the Pentagon from paying for gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatment for transgender service members.
An amendment barring the Defense Department from spending money on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs also passed, as did one that bans military school libraries from having "pornographic and radical gender ideology books."
The bill passed by a vote of 219-210, with four Republicans voting no and four Democrats voting yes.
Democrats slammed the amendments added to the bill.
"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," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement opposing the bill with other Democratic leaders.
After passing the bill, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy blasted Democrats and said they should "stop using taxpayer money to do their own woke-ism. A military cannot defend themselves if you train them in woke. We don't want Disneyland to train our military."
The Senate is expected to begin working on its version of the NDAA next week. After the Senate version is passed, the two bills will have to be reconciled before the legislation can be signed by President Joe Biden.