The Senate and House Armed Services committees have rolled out their must-pass $886.3 billion defense bill, which would provide the largest raise for service members in more than two decades, temporarily extend a controversial surveillance program and strengthen the US posture in the Indo-Pacific region to deter Chinese actions.
The chambers are expected to vote this week on the nearly 3,100-page National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024 before sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature. The package authorizes $28 billion, or about 3%, more than the previous fiscal year.
The legislation outlines the policy agenda for the Department of Defense and the US military and authorizes spending in line with the Pentagon’s priorities. But it does not appropriate the funding itself.
Also notable, the joint package does not include two controversial provisions related to abortion and transgender health care access, which were in the House defense policy bill that passed this summer. The House version would have prohibited the secretary of defense from paying for or reimbursing expenses relating to abortion services. It also would have barred a health care program for service members from covering hormone treatments for transgender individuals and gender confirmation surgeries.
But the final version of the bill does include multiple measures aimed at “ending wokeness in the military,” according to a summary provided by the Republican-led House Armed Services Committee.
Funding for a separate $105 billion national security package that would provide more assistance to Israel and Ukraine continues to be a point of contention in Congress, with Senate Republicans insisting that more foreign aid be paired with major border security policy changes. While there have been talks to try to find consensus, no bipartisan deal has been reached.
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