Senate sends annual defense bill to Obama’s desk

The Senate easily sent an annual defense policy bill to the White House Thursday, though it’s unclear if President Obama will sign it. 

Senators voted 92-7 to send the wide-ranging National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to Obama’s desk.

{mosads}Asked last week about the chance of a presidential veto, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said there are provisions that are “encouraging” but said they were continuing to review it. 

“It’s mostly free of the budgetary gimmicks, so we’re going to continue to study it,” he told reporters. 

The White House has taken issue with the NDAA’s restrictions on transferring detainees out of the Guantanamo Bay facility, which Obama has been trying to close.

But the bill passed both the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities. Obama has frequently threatened to veto previous NDAAs, but only followed through in 2015.

They NDAA would authorize a total of $618.7 billion in spending, including more than $67 billion for a war fund known as the overseas contingency operations (OCO) account.

It also includes a troop pay raise of 2.1 percent, above the president’s request for a 1.6 percent pay raise.

But it avoids a controversial fight over requiring women to register for the draft, a move that drew backlash from conservatives. 

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the two Armed Services chiefs, praised the vote, calling the bill a necessary step to updating the Pentagon.

“Reform is not easy, but this NDAA shows it is possible. Building on this year’s NDAA, the Senate and House Armed Services Committees will continue to champion the cause of defense reform in the new Congress,” they said in a joint statement. 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against the bill.