Today, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will be put on the floor in the House for a vote.
While the legislation does appear to have enough support in the Senate to pass, it is seeing surprise resistance in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) only has three votes to spare, and there is already at least one “no” vote coming from the GOP side of the aisle.
Not only that, there are reportedly provisions buried in the bill that could prevent Donald Trump himself from signing the measure if it does pass.
On Tuesday night, the House Rules Committee managed to get over the first hurdle in passing the NDAA.
The version of the bill on which I have seen reports would increase pay for troops, something to which nobody will object. It will provide more aid to Ukraine and repeal sanctions in Syria, alongside a few other noteworthy measures.
I have seen reports from the Senate that the NDAA would also restrict troop withdrawal from the South Korean and European theaters, which could be a problem in terms of getting Trump to sign the final legislation.
One thing excluded from the bill was IVF coverage for service members, which was reportedly already negotiated but then removed, and that is something that would likely negate Democrat support for the bill because it is a cog in their pro-choice agenda, which immediately brings that three-vote cushion for Johnson back into play.
It was only about 24 hours ago that it seemed like pushback from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on the legislation would not amount to much, but, oh, how a day can change everything.
If Democrats do not support the bill, there could be enough Republicans joining Greene in her plan to vote “no” on the legislation when it is taken to the floor for a vote.
Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) has explained some of the lingering issues, stating, "Conservatives were promised that an anti-central bank digital currency language, authored by Tom Emmer, the whip, would be in the NDAA.”
He continued, “Our initial reading of it, we've had it for hours now, is that it is not in there. And then there is no anti-abortion language either. So, as we fund our military, there are red lines that we need to put in here."
As you are reading this, the House is likely already in the process of making its final floor statements on the bill in preparation for a vote.
Johnson made his plea to the caucus on Sunday, when he unveiled the more than 3,000-page bill, stating, "This year's National Defense Authorization Act helps advance President Trump and Republicans' Peace Through Strength Agenda by codifying 15 of President Trump's executive orders, ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos.”
Among the orders the bill is hoping to codify is Trump’s “Golden Dome” proposal, using active-duty troops along the Mexican border, and ending DEI in the military.
There is also a provision that would require Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to hand over unredacted tapes of a controversial Sept. 2 boat strike that has given rise to allegations of war crimes. So, as you can see, there is enough in there to scare away Republicans, Democrats, and the president himself. I don’t want to say it won’t pass, but it is going to be a nail-biter until Trump’s pen hits that paper.
