Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was not going to sign off on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) until House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) threw her a bone.
If she backed the spending bill, he was going to floor her legislation to protect children from gender transition surgeries.
Greene backed the NDAA, Johnson put her legislation on the floor, and it passed, but barely.
Greene’s bill, the Protect Children’s Innocence Act (PCIA), passed by a vote of 216-211, but I will get into that more in just a bit.
Prior to the bill going to the floor, Greene stated, "Children are NOT experiments. No more drugs. No more surgeries. No more permanent harm.”
She continued, “We need to let kids grow up without manipulation from adults to make life-altering decisions! Congress must protect America’s children!!!"
Mike Zamore, national director of policy and government affairs at the ACLU, pushed back, stating, "Politicians should never prohibit parents from doing what is best for their transgender children.” I am not sure allowing a young child to transition is in their best interest, so I 100% support the bill.
I know this will not surprise anyone, but 200 Democrats voted to block the bill.
Greene also butted heads with Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who wanted to add an amendment to limit criminal liability, but he eventually backed off.
The only Democrats who supported it were the recently pardoned Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), and Rep. Don Davis (D-NC).
The truly shocking thing is that the bill was not endorsed across the board by all Republicans.
All but four Republicans voted in favor of the legislation, with Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Gabe Evans (R-CO), and Mike Kennedy (R-UT) voting against it with the majority of Democrats.
Even though this was a clear win for conservatives, Rep. Roy was not happy about the deal that was made, stating, “Marjorie was given this vote to buy her vote on the NDAA. That’s the kind of shit that happens around this institution and I’m sick of it.”
When Roy was asked about his amendment, he said he wanted to add it so the bill would be more likely to pass through the Senate.
Now that the bill has passed the House, it will have to get 60 votes in the Senate, which will not be an easy task. I can see it getting two or three votes from Democrats, but it will be a tall order to get any more than that. If she can, Greene then has to hope that Trump does not hold a grudge and veto the bill simply because it originated from her hand.
