The House of Representatives approved the $895 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025 on Wednesday, following contentious debates over a provision restricting gender-affirming care for military dependents. The bill passed in a 281–140 vote, with 81 Democrats joining 200 Republicans in favor, while 16 Republicans opposed …
Read More »Massive Defense Bill Advances In Senate, But Faces Objections From House Conservatives
Ashley Murray, Georgia Recorder The U.S. Senate took an important step Tuesday on the nation’s annual defense policy bill, but the reliably bipartisan legislation is expected to hit the same hard-right opposition in the U.S. House that has dogged lawmakers since the beginning of this Congress. The Democratic-led upper chamber …
Read More »Senate Passes Annual Defense Policy Bill with Bipartisan Support
The Senate has passed its annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a bipartisan 86-11 vote, totaling $886 billion. The bill’s approval comes after two weeks of debate, during which the Senate avoided many of the culture war issues that the House included in its version of the NDAA. Now, …
Read More »Sanders Says He Opposes $886 Billion in Military Spending Amid Healthcare and Climate Crises
Jake Johnson, Common Dreams Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Monday that he intends to vote against legislation authorizing $886 billion in military spending for the coming fiscal year, arguing the Pentagon budget should be cut in favor of investments in healthcare, education, housing, climate action, and other priorities. “As a nation, …
Read More »Defense Bill That Targets Abortion Access, Trans Health, Racial Equity Passes House
Jacob Fischler, Georgia Recorder The U.S. House approved Friday an annual defense authorization bill loaded with GOP rollbacks of Pentagon policies on abortion and transgender health care, as well as efforts to boost racial equity. Republican amendments targeting social policy issues turned a typically bipartisan measure preserving the nation’s military …
Read More »House Passes $858B National Defense Bill
The House on Thursday passed 350-80 the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act after making several concessions to the Senate, which did not pass its own version of the bill for the second straight year in a row. The $858 billion NDAA amounts to an 8% increase over FY22 defense …
Read More »Congress On Track To Scrap Pentagon’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Defense Bill
Jennifer Shutt, Missouri Independent Members of the U.S. military would no longer be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine under a proposal Congress could pass as soon as this week. The provision eliminating the vaccine mandate is tucked into the massive National Defense Authorization Act, the annual defense policy bill that Congress …
Read More »New law will revamp military investigations into sexual assault, harassment
By Ren Larson, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica Dec. 29, 2021 Commanders will no longer be involved in military sexual harassment or sexual assault investigations under a new federal law named for a murdered Fort Hood soldier that goes into effect on Jan. 1. Provisions of the “I Am Vanessa …
Read More »President Biden signs 2022 defense policy bill into law
President Joe Biden signed into law Monday the $768 billion defense policy bill that includes a pay raise for troops, reforms of the military justice system and billions to spend on research and development deemed critical for the U.S. military to remain competitive with Russia and China. The 2022 National …
Read More »Congress had the votes to overhaul how the military handles serious crimes. Why didn’t it?
Originally published by The 19th The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved an annual defense bill that will modify how the military handles cases of sexual assault and harassment. But Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said the tweaks “fall short of creating a truly independent military justice system, which …
Read More »Senate Passes 2022 Defense Bill; Sends To President Biden
On Wednesday, the Senate passed the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, sending the annual defense bill to President Joe Biden’s desk and ensuring that Congress’ long-standing record of passing an NDAA every year remains unbroken. The final vote in the Senate was 88-11, with strong bipartisan support. The House passed …
Read More »House passes 2002 National Defense Authorization Act
On Tuesday, by a vote of 363 to 70, the House of Representatives passed the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill authorizes $768 billion in spending for the Defense Department in fiscal year 2022, $25 billion more than requested by President Joe Biden. The big increase split Democrats, …
Read More »Senate ‘Likely’ To Take Up Annual Defense Bill This Week
In a Sunday letter to colleagues, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber is “likely” to vote on the long-delayed annual defense bill this week. Schumer said the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, a bipartisan package meant to make the U.S. economy more competitive against China and bolster U.S. supply …
Read More »House Votes To Increase Relief Checks, Override Veto of Defense Bill
In a busy night in the Capitol, the House voted Monday to approve increasing the amount of the direct checks going out to many Americans from $600 to $2000. After calling the Covid relief bill a disgrace and signaling he may not sign it, President Trump signed the bill that includes the $600 payments on Sunday but continued to …
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