House passes annual defense policy bill

The House on Thursday passed its annual defense policy bill authorizing nearly $840 billion in defense spending for fiscal 2023, approving a $37 billion boost to President Biden’s defense budget.

The lower chamber passed the bill on a bipartisan 329-101 vote. Thirty-nine Democrats and 62 Republicans voted against the measure.

A separate version of the annual defense policy bill still has to be considered in the Senate, and then both versions will be reconciled in conference committee before the bill makes its way through both chambers for final passage.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Politico on Wednesday that the upper chamber would likely begin debating its version of the bill in September due to other high-profile bills being ironed out. 

The House Armed Services Committee first advanced the bill in June by a vote of 57-1. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), ranking member of the committee, said in floor remarks Wednesday that the bill was “the definition of a bipartisan bill.”

“It will enhance Congressional oversight of [The Department of Defense], it will improve the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families, and it will ensure our military is properly resourced and equipped to defend our nation and our allies,” Rogers said.

The House bill allocates $808.4 billion in discretionary spending to the Pentagon, $30.5 billion to the Department of Energy, and another $400 million in defense-related activities elsewhere in the federal government.

Lawmakers filed a record 1,230 amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) through the House Rules Committee for consideration by the full committee, though the lower chamber considered only 650 on the floor.

Among the amendments, the House turned down two offered by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) to slash the total top line of the NDAA.

One amendment, to cut the top line by $100 billion, was turned down on a bipartisan 35-78 vote. Her other amendment to reverse the $37 billion boost advanced by the House Armed Services Committee failed on bipartisan 151-277 vote.

The House also included amendments that would require officials to prepare a report analyzing white supremacy and neo-Nazi activities within their ranks. Another approved amendment would give Washington, D.C., control over the D.C. National Guard. 

The lower chamber also approved creating a secure system for reporting unidentified aerial phenomena, commonly known as UFOs.