House approves massive National Defense Authorization Act with controversial provision

House approves massive National Defense Authorization Act with controversial provision
by Sheri Walsh
Washington DC (UPI) Dec 11, 2024

The U.S. House passed the country's annual defense policy bill, the massive $895 billion National Defense Authorization Act that includes a pay raise for service members and a ban on using NDAA funds for gender-affirming care for their children.

The bipartisan legislation passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 281 to 140, with 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting against the legislation, and 81 Democrats joining 200 Republicans in support of its passage. The bill now moves to the Senate.

The bill includes a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for all other members. It also prohibits the use of health care funds from TRICARE for gender-affirming care for service members' children under the age of 18, sparking strong responses from both sides of the aisle.

"The inclusion of this harmful provision puts the lives of children at risk and may force thousands of service members to make the choice of continuing their military service or leaving to ensure their child can get the health care they need," Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said in a statement.

"Blanketly denying health care to people who need it -- just because of a biased notion against transgender people -- is wrong," he added.

On the House floor Wednesday, Smith recounted a military family and their trans daughter, who received gender-affirming care that "saved her life."

Smith also blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson, who included the ban in the legislation in an effort to cut $31 billion in "inefficient programs, obsolete weapons and bloated Pentagon bureaucracy."

"We banned TRICARE from prescribing treatments that would ultimately sterilize our kids, and we gutted the DEI bureaucracy," Johnson said Tuesday, adding that the package "includes critical wins for our troops and our country."

"Improves service members' quality of life, ensures America continues to have the most powerful fighting force in the world, bans transgender treatment for kids of military members and cuts $31 billion in Pentagon bureaucracy," Johnson wrote in a post on X.

"The safety and security of the American people is our top priority. And this year's NDAA ensures our military has the resources and the capabilities needed to remain the most powerful fighting force on the planet."