Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) is threatening to vote “no” on advancing the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) unless it is changed.
Gonzales, who has broken with his party on previous bills, said he would vote against a rule required to move the legislation forward.
Rule votes are typically party-line votes, but with the small GOP majority in the House, a small number of defectors can prevent the GOP from advancing legislation by blocking a rule.
“NDAA isn’t ready for prime time. Count me as a NO on any rule vote to bring it to the floor as is,” Gonzales tweeted Wednesday morning.
Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) arrive to the Capitol for a vote on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Greg Nash)
The NDAA is often passed on a bipartisan basis, but this year’s legislation is more controversial than normal because of a number of cultural and social issues that are being addressed in the bill at the demand of GOP conservatives.
The Hill reached out to Gonzales’ office for further comment on why he is threatening to vote against the defense bill. Gonzales did not state a reason in his tweet.
The version of the bill passed by the House Armed Services Committee bans drag shows and training promoting critical race theory.
A number of other battles are set for the House floor, with conservatives seeking amendments reversing a Pentagon policy that would reimburse service members for travel expenses if they need to go to another state to get an abortion.
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Amendments from conservative lawmakers are also expected on diversity, climate change and other initiatives that some lawmakers claim distract the military from its national security goals.
When the House Rules Committee considered the bill on Tuesday, over 1,500 amendments were already filed for consideration.
To give GOP leaders more time to deal with GOP divisions over the bill, the committee reconvened late Tuesday night with a rule that clears 290 NDAA amendments for floor votes and leaves the other controversial amendments to be dealt with later.
Some conservative members indicated they are against rushing the process as certain hot-button measures are left in limbo.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he’s “very confident” the House will pass the NDAA but did not expand upon a timeline on when that might be.
–Updated at 1:23 p.m.