MAGA Republican Defense Amendments ‘Cruel, Blindly Partisan, Extreme,’ Congresswoman Says
Legislation has no chance to pass in the Democratic Senate
House Republicans turned the annual defense authorization bill — usually very bipartisan legislation — into a messaging bill to highlight their “cruel, blindly partisan, extreme” positions on various social issues, according to a prominent progressive member of the House.
House Republicans narrowly passed major defense policy legislation on Friday that restricts the Pentagon policies on abortion access, medical care for transgender troops and diversity in a narrow vote.
The many culture war provisions Republicans packed into the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act to win conservative votes are doomed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, however.
The 219-210 vote on Friday saw all but four Democrats oppose the bill, which authorizes a national defense budget of $886 billion for fiscal year 2024. Conversely, only four Republicans opposed the measure.
“This was a bill that became really an extreme MAGA Republican bill that was not designed in any way to be able to get bipartisan support,” said Rep Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “As you know, the top line of defense spending is always a challenge for progressives, but this went far beyond that.
“Not only is it the highest top line number we’ve seen in a very long time, they’ve put in all sorts of amendments that were added at the last minute, that aim to move towards an abortion ban across the country, basically ban abortion care and reproductive care for service members, eliminate gender-affirming care for trans folks and eliminate DEI diversity, equity, and inclusion, which, as you know, we’re trying to build up our military, build up our troops,” Jayapal added. “We need to have people from all over that represent different communities and we have trouble recruiting right now as it is.
“So, this was a bill designed to appease the MAGA extreme right wing of their party. It was terrible to see. I haven’t seen such a divided partisan vote in the entire time I’ve been in Congress,” she said.
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