United States: The U.S. Senate on Monday passed the $895 billion NDAA policy toward the Pentagon for approval as soon as Tuesday in the White House so that Biden could sign it into law.
Senate Approves $895 Billion NDAA
The count was 83-12 for moving the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, to a vote on its final passage – well over the 60 endorsed in the 100-member Senate. The bill passed when some of its components, including one that seeks to prohibit some types of healthcare for transgender children of service members, have been included, as reported by Reuters.
The 2022 NDAA authorizes $895bn a year in military expenditures, including provisions for acquiring military equipment and strengthening competitiveness with key rivals such as China and Russia.
Key Components of the NDAA
The other key aspect of the 1,800-page bill is the quality of life for the US military.
This raises pay scales for the lowest-ranking troops by 14.5 percent and for the rest of the force by 4.5 percent, a likely higher rate than normal. It also permits the construction of housing for military personnel and schools and childcare centers.
Political Context and Controversies
The bill prohibits the military health program known as TRICARE from providing treatments for Gender dysphoria for the children of military personnel if the treatments may result in sterilization.
The fact that this provision was included in the bill-setting policy for the Department of Defense highlighted how relevant issues had become in American politics.
President-elect Donald Trump, together with many other Republicans, criticized Democrats for advocating for the rights of transgender people in mid-2024 during election campaigns, with Republicans managing to retain control of the House and gaining control of the Senate and the presidency from next month.
The fiscal 2025 NDAA is bipartisan legislation that was agreed to by the House and Senate Democrats and Republicans in weeks of closed-door discussions.
It left out some other Republican measures on social matters, among them a bid to bar TRICARE from paying for transition-related surgeries for trans adults and a motion that would have restored the Pentagon’s policy of paying for travel of military personnel to have abortions in states where the procedure is outlawed.
What’s Next? Funding Still Needed
The enormous price tag is one of the very few large social policies Congress enacts each year, and legislators take pride in having produced the law each year for over six decades, as reported by Reuters.
The NDAA bill empowers the Department of Defence to spend money on its programs but does not provide the money. For the fiscal year ending in September 2025, Congress must pass funding in a spending bill apart from the annual defense policy bill. It may not become law before March this year, a research bill that is quite contrary to its intentions.