House lawmakers on Friday turned back a revolt from members upset over spending to pass the annual defense policy bill by a 269-151 vote.
Most Democrats voted against the bill, but only eight Republicans defected.
Concerns centered around the use of a contingency account for war funding to bypass mandated spending caps with a $38.3 billion authorization for operations and maintenance. The sequestration cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 have proven impossible to reverse, and supporters of the idea argued that the money was urgently needed to maintain military readiness in an increasingly dangerous world.
The White House had strongly opposed adding funds to the wartime account but stopped short of saying President Obama would veto the bill over it.
On Thursday, Republican leaders helped stave off further GOP defections by adopting an amendment to strike a provision in the bill approved by the Armed Services Committee that would have encouraged the Pentagon to study whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to serve in the military. The vote was 221-202, with 20 Republicans joining all Democrats in the bid to preserve the provision.
The massive bill is one of the most important “must-pass” measures for Congress, especially in wartime, since it sets policy for the Pentagon and the national security activities of the Department of Energy. It governs how many troops are in the armed forces, how much they are paid and what benefits they receive, which and how many weapons to buy and which to scrap, along with guiding how ongoing operations are conducted, such as the fight against the Islamic State.
