The Senate approved a defense bill that includes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, increases overall military spending to $895 billion, but eliminates coverage of transgender medical treatments for children of military personnel.
The Senate passed a defense bill Wednesday that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion while stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children of military members. The annual defense authorization bill usually gains strong bipartisan support and has not failed to pass Congress in nearly six decades, but the Pentagon policy legislation in recent years has become a battleground for cultural issues.
Republicans this year sought to tack on priorities for social conservatives to the package, contributing to a months-long negotiation over the bill and a falloff in support from Democrats. Still, all but a handful of Senate Democrats — as well as nearly all Republicans — voted for the bill's final passage, sending the legislation to President Biden. The bill 'isn't perfect, but it still includes some very good things that Democrats fought for,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a floor speech. “It has strong provisions to stand up against the Chinese Communist Party here on a national security basis.” In the House, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill last week after House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted on adding the provision to ban the military health system from providing transgender medical care for children. The legislation easily passed by a vote of 281 to 140. Senate Republican leaders argued that its 1% increase for defense spending was not enough, especially at a time of global unrest and challenges to American dominance. GOP senators had argued for a generational boost to defense spending this year, and are planning another push for more defense funding once they control the White House and Congress next year. The annual defense authorization bill directs key Pentagon policy, but it would still need to be backed up with an appropriations packag
DEFENSEBILL MILITARY SPENDING PAY RAISES TRANSGENDER CARE SENATE
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