The compromise version of the annual defense policy bill that passed the House stripped out scores of hot-button measures from it such as including women in the military draft to revoking the 2002 authorization for the Iraq War.
A big item that survived the drawn-out haggling over the legislation was a $25 billion boost to the Pentagon budget that President Biden didn’t ask for.
The $768 billion bill now heads to the Senate for final passage.
The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the House on Tuesday by a 363-70 vote. After repeated delays in the Senate, the legislation was kicked to backroom negotiators who scrambled to get the must-pass bill across the finish line before year’s end.
“This bill represents a compromise between both parties and chambers — as a result, every single member involved has something in it they like and something that didn’t get into the bill that they wish had. This year’s procedural realities made the entire process exponentially more difficult,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, Washington Democrat.
Lawmakers also yanked from the bill sanctions against Russian’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that runs undersea from Russia to Germany, which critics fear will strengthen Moscow’s hand in Western Europe.
House Foreign Affairs Committee top Republican Michael T. McCaul of Texas called the pipeline a “Russian malign influence project”
“To remove this bipartisan amendment at a time when Russia is amassing troops on Ukraine’s border sends a dangerous message to Putin and to our adversaries that America is weak,” he said.
The final version also damped a sweeping military justice overhaul proposal put forward by Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, New York Democrat, which would have removed convening authority for all felonies from unit commanders.
The measure was opposed by senior military leaders, who said the overhaul would harm unit culture and discipline. The final version removes several major crimes including rape, sexual assault and murder from specialized military prosecutors, but stops short of removing military commanders’ decision-making authority on all major crimes.
Ms. Gillibrand called it “a major setback on behalf of service members, women and survivors,” and blasted negotiators for sidestepping a vote on the full measure.
“As sexual assault survivor advocates warned would happen for months, House and Senate Armed Services leadership have gutted our bipartisan military justice reforms behind closed doors, doing a disservice to our service members and our democracy,” she said.
Dropping the repeal of the 1991 and 2002 Iraq War Authorizations was among the biggest blows Democrats suffered in negotiating the final package.
The House passed it as a standalone bill over the summer and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, has promised to pass before the end of the year.
Republicans objected to ending the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) because it is being used as umbrella approval for military operations against terrorist groups in the region, such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Republicans would rather replace the AUMF than repeal it outright.
The compromise included a Republican-backed measure to establish a commission to study the full 20-year war in Afghanistan and provide Congress with recommendations and lessons learned.
The final bill also leaves in place provisions from previous years which ban the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the U.S. The matter resurfaced this year as Democrats have resumed their push to close the Bush-era relic.
The $25 billion boost to next year’s defense budget was a major win for Republicans and a painful setback for House progressives who fought to cut Pentagon funding.
Two California Democrats — Rep. Barbara Lee, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Sara Jacobs, who also sits on the appropriations panel — proposed an amendment during the House’s first pass on the NDAA to delete the $25 billion increase, but lost in a 286-to-142 vote.
The House also decisively nixed a separate measure to impose a further 10% cut to Mr. Biden’s proposal, which was offered by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat. That vote was 332-86.
The spending boost is a loud rebuke of Mr. Biden’s proposed budget which trailed inflation, and which many lawmakers said would leave the Pentagon unprepared in countering threats from Russia and China.
The Senate is expected to pass the updated version of the bill in the coming days.
Mr. Schumer faced bipartisan backlash as the bill languished for months in the Senate. Lawmakers went back to the drawing board with the NDAA after Senate Republicans blocked Mr. Schumer’s attempt to advance the legislation without votes on key GOP amendments.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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