What to Know About the Controversy Over the Defense Authorization Bill

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing pressure this week from conservative members of his party to load up a must-pass defense bill with provisions that would strip Biden-era personnel policies out of the military, a move that could threaten Democratic support and tank the bill in a closely divided House.

The $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which has been passed by Congress every year for the last six decades, authorizes pay for troops in harm’s way and outlines the policy agenda for the Department of Defense. But lawmakers on McCarthy’s far-right flank are pushing to use floor amendments to rein in Pentagon policies on diversity, abortion, and climate change, which they say distracts the military from its main mission.
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The controversy over the defense authorization bill is just the latest example of the many challenges McCarthy has faced in his leadership role as he tries to ward off a conservative revolt and pass legislation with only GOP votes. Republicans have a razor-thin, four-vote majority in the House, meaning that McCarthy will likely need bipartisan support to pass the defense bill.

The House Rules Committee is scheduled to mark up the defense authorization bill on Tuesday, with a floor vote expected later this week. A record 1,502 amendments were filed, highlighting the intensity of the demands from members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus even after House GOP leadership staffers huddled with lawmakers over the last few days in an attempt to cut back the number of amendments.

The conservative pushback is centered around a number of issues, including the Pentagon’s policy to cover travel costs and allow leave for troops seeking abortions, eliminating the Pentagon’s chief diversity officer post, prohibiting gender affirming surgeries and treatments, and banning the Department of Defense from having “pornographic and racial gender ideology” books in their libraries. Additional amendments would create a special watchdog for Ukraine assistance and stop President Joe Biden’s cluster munition transfer to Ukraine, offering a potential referendum among members of Congress on the President’s handling of the war.

“These cluster bombs will not end the war in Ukraine and will not build a more stable country. Children will be left without limbs and without parents because of this decision if we do not work together in a bipartisan fashion to stop it,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican and member of the House Freedom Caucus, tweeted Monday.

For McCarthy, the dilemma underscores the balance he must strike between lawmakers on the far-right, many of whom rarely vote for the annual defense bill, and the Democrats he will ultimately need for the bill to become law. The bill must eventually pass a Democratic-led Senate and win Biden’s signature, though neither is likely if McCarthy caters to the culture-war issues.

Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Republican, suggested on Monday that she would encourage her colleagues to put aside the controversial amendments to avoid derailing the defense bill. “We need to get the NDAA passed,” Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot, told reporters. “It’s not something to ever put at risk.”

Rep. Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican and the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that the defense bill “puts our national security first” and would supply the military with the tools “necessary to counter the unprecedented threats our nation faces China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.”

“Providing for our national defense is the most important task given to Congress by the U.S. Constitution,” Rogers said. “The NDAA is a critical part of fulfilling that duty.”

While the future of the bill is uncertain, McCarthy will be watching closely to see how the House Rules Committee votes on the various amendments. Republicans can only afford to lose two votes on the committee on a party-line vote, and McCarthy named three hard-right conservatives to the rules panel as a concession during his marathon 15-round fight for the gavel: Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Chip Roy of Texas. All three voted against the annual defense policy bill in the past, and they could sink the bill if they vote in lockstep on Tuesday.

source https://time.com/6293721/defense-authorization-act-congress-controversy-mccarthy/