By Lindsey McPherson – The Washington Times
House Republicans are teeing up amendment votes to the annual defense bill on several culture war issues that, if adopted, will likely turn most Democrats against the measure.
The Republican amendments getting votes include one from Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Texas to repeal a 2022 Pentagon memorandum that authorized paid leave and reimbursement of travel costs for service members seeking abortions.
Another, from Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, would ban military health plans from covering hormone treatments for transgender individuals or sex reassignment surgeries.
Other Republican amendments granted votes would ban drag shows, “radical gender ideology or pornographic material,” and promotion of critical race theory.
Those were among 350 amendments the House Rules Committee scheduled for floor votes, culled down from more than 1,300 amendments filed.
The House is set to vote Wednesday on the rule setting debate parameters for the defense bill and then begin debating and voting on the hundreds of amendments. Final passage is not expected until Friday.
The Pentagon policy bill, also known as the National Defense Authorization Act, would authorize $895 billion in defense spending for fiscal 2025 and includes policies to boost pay and quality of life for service members.
It advanced through the House Armed Services Committee in a 57-1 vote last month, but the floor vote is expected to break more along party lines if the culture war amendments, many of which would undo Biden administration policies or practices, are adopted. . . . (read more)
GOP culture war amendments could complicate annual defense bill (The Hill, 12 JUN 24))
Culture war amendments that could be added to the House’s mammoth annual defense bill threaten to turn the normally bipartisan measure into a partisan one, potentially complicating its path to final approval and creating headaches for GOP leaders down the line.
The House will vote this week on whether to attach those amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Any number of them would sink support from Democrats, who supported the bill as it came out of committee and had praised its bipartisanship.
With the House GOP’s extremely thin majority, an NDAA with the culture war amendments would mean Republican leaders have little room for error.
And if approved, the measures will be a point of contention again down the line as the House negotiates a final version of the defense bill with the Democratic-led Senate.
One top priority for conservatives, led by Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas), would block a Biden administration policy to reimburse service members for the travel costs when obtaining an abortion.
Other items led by Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) would prohibit the Department of Defense from covering gender-affirming surgeries for transgender individuals. Amendments led by Norman and Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Clay Higgins (R-La.) would take aim at diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices and programs, through hiring freezes or eliminating entire offices and positions. . . . (read more)
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