The House is set to vote on the $858 billion National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday, which outlines the annual budget for military spending and paves the way for the bill to be passed before the end of the year.
If passed, the legislation would increase the budget for the Pentagon as well as implement a number of other unrelated pet projects that lawmakers sought to include for passage. Because the NDAA is routinely enacted each year, lawmakers frequently seek to use the legislation to tack on additional measures that are often unrelated as a way to expedite their passage.
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IN AND OUT: THE PET POLICIES THAT SURVIVED INCLUSION IN THE $858 BILLION MAJOR DEFENSE POLICY BILL
In the most recent iteration of the NDAA, Democrats shot down an effort to eliminate a military program that allows service members to travel across state lines to receive an abortion if they are stationed in a state that bans the procedure, according to a senior Democratic aide. That program was enacted by the Pentagon earlier this year, mandating the Defense Department to approve leave for service members obtaining abortion services and pay for any related expenses.
Top Republicans sought to terminate the Pentagon program in the NDAA, accusing the Biden administration of politicizing the military.
“I am deeply disappointed that the Department of Defense has allowed President Biden to blatantly misuse the United States Military for political purposes,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) said in a statement in October. “Taxpayer dollars meant for deterring China and other adversaries should not be squandered on campaign politics … DOD must be blocked from wasting any portion of their budget on this horrendous policy.”
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The NDAA proposal includes a number of other policy proposals for service members, such as a 4.6% pay raise to help offset higher prices for military families and child care. The major defense bill also includes an overhaul of how the military handles allegations of sexual assault by placing such investigations under the jurisdiction of trained military prosecutors.
Lawmakers settled on negotiations regarding the annual defense budget late Tuesday night, unveiling a top line of $857.9 billion — surpassing what President Joe Biden requested as well as what the House and Senate Armed Services committees initially proposed.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story implied the NDAA included a policy to preserve the Pentagon’s abortion program. The Washington Examiner has updated the story to clarify the defense bill did not include language to reverse the abortion policy.
