Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), chairman of the VA House Subcommittee on Technology Modernization
WASHINGTON, DC — The House of Representatives passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a narrow margin and with multiple controversial amendments targeting abortion access and gender-affirming healthcare for servicemembers, as well as diversity and inclusion efforts in the military.
The bill authorized $886 billion for national defense programs and was passed by the GOP-controlled House last month with a vote of 219 to 210, with four Democrats voting for the bill and four Republicans voting against it.
The amendments that made the bill so difficult to pass included:
- eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion programs and staff in the DoD;
- prohibiting the department from paying for or reimbursing expenses related to abortion services; and
- barring DoD from covering hormone treatment and gender-confirmation surgeries for transgender servicemembers.
The amendments were pushed by legislators on the far right of the Republican Party, who used the party’s narrow majority in the House to leverage their votes in exchange for the amendments’ inclusion. The passage of the bill sets the stage for a clash with the Democrat-controlled Senate and likely a contentious conference process to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the NDAA.
At the end of the month, the Senate passed the NDDA for Fiscal Year 2024, by a bipartisan vote of 86-11, without addressing the controversial provisions of the House bill. A conference committee must reconcile the bills, or risk failing to pass a NDDA for the first time in more than 60 years.
The amendment prohibiting reimbursement for expenses related to abortion services is in response to a DoD policy instituted last fall following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the instituting of various states’ bans on abortion. The policy provides servicemembers, spouses and dependents in need of an abortion with paid time off and travel reimbursement if they need to travel to another state.
The policy has been criticized by Republicans in both the House and the Senate, most notably by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). Since March, Tuberville has blocked speedy passage of a package of military promotions until the abortion policy is rescinded. If the Senate were forced to vote on each individual promotion, it could tie up the process for months.
Military leaders have stated publicly the importance of making abortion care accessible to servicemembers and that rescinding the policy could have an immediate, direct impact on military readiness. One in five servicemembers are women and, as DoD officials have noted in recent hearings on the issue, members of the military do not have a say in which state they serve.
“I had a chance to meet with some military spouses here at the White House,” said John Kirby, assistant secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, at a White House press conference following passage of the House bill. “Some were active-duty members, some were spouses; all were women. They told me that abortion laws in this country that are now being passed are absolutely having an effect on their willingness to continue serving in uniform or to encourage or discourage in this case their spouses from continuing service. So if you don’t think there’s going to be a retention and morale issue, think again.”
He added, “What happens if you get assigned to a state like Alabama, which has a pretty restrictive abortion law in place, and you’re concerned about your reproductive care? What do you do? Do you say no and get out? Some people may decide to do that.”
As for the amendment targeting transgender healthcare, this is not the first time that the rights and privileges of those particular servicemembers have been threatened. In 2016, under President Barack Obama, DoD lifted its ban on transgender people serving in the military. Only a year later, President Donald Trump tweeted that the military would not allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity.
In 2019, Trump’s tweets were codified into official policy, with a DoD ban on any new transgender recruits, the forcing of active-duty transgender servicemembers to serve under their gender assigned at birth and prohibiting them from receiving any further gender-affirming care. This policy was overturned by President Joe Biden as one of his first official acts after being sworn into office in January 2021.
The amendment to the NDAA prohibiting DoD from covering gender-affirming care for servicemembers was put forward by Matt Rosendale (R-MT), one of the most vocal and right-leaning members of the House VA Committee.
“[Transgender healthcare] does nothing to help our troops to be the most effective fighting force, and it’s nothing but a distraction and a waste of valuable taxpayer dollars,” Rosendale declared during a debate on the House floor. “The government has no business funding these procedures.”
The broadest-reaching amendment—the one removing all DEI offices and positions from the military—was also the one that faced the most challenges to being attached to the budget. An early vote saw the amendment fail 216 to 216. It later passed 214-213.
According to House Democrats, the amendments effectively turned what had been a bipartisan bill into a right-leaning statement in the ongoing “culture war.”
“The bill we passed out of committee sent a clear, united message to our partners, global competitors and the American people that democracy still works and Congress is still functional. That bill no longer exists,” declared Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. “What was once an example of compromise and functioning government has become an ode to bigotry and ignorance.”
The day following the House vote, the Senate took its first steps in considering its own version of the NDAA. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said, “I hope we can have an open and constructive amendment process for the NDAA, without needless delay or dilatory tactics. I certainly hope we do not see the kind of controversy that severely hindered the NDAA process over in the House. Both sides should defeat potentially toxic amendments and refrain from delaying the NDAA’s passage.”