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National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025

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Acronyms (colloquial)NDAA
Legislative history

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (NDAA 2025) is a proposed United States federal law which will specify the budget, expenditures, and policies of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for fiscal year 2025.[1][2]

Background

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The National Defense Authorization Act is an annual bill proposed in the United States Congress that redefines the United States military budget for the following fiscal year. Each chamber of Congress introduces a version of the NDAA for 2025.

The House introduced H.R. 8070 on April 18 and sent it to the Senate on July 8 for consideration. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the Senate's version of the bill, on June 14 in a 22–3 vote.[3][4] Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D‑RI) initially voted against the bill, due to disagreement with the decision to increase defense spending $25 billion over the budget cap established by the Fiscal Responsibility Act; Elizabeth Warren (D‑MA) and Tom Cotton (R‑AR) joined Reed in voting against the bill. The $25 billion spending increase over the cap was due to an amendment introduced by its Ranking Member, Roger Wicker (R‑MS).[4] Reed reintroduced a new Senate version as S. 4638 on July 8 which was suspended. Chuck Schumer (D‑NY) introduced H.R. 5009, which is a repurposed bill once used for the Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver Reauthorization Act.

History

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On May 22, the House Armed Services Committee approved its version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, by a 57–1 vote.[5] As passed by the Committee, the bill included the Pentagon's controversial "Legislative Proposal 480", transferring Air National Guard space units to the Space Force; however, the Committee accepted an amendment proposed by Joe Wilson (R‑SC), watering down the Pentagon's proposal by adding a requirement for gubernatorial consent to any such transfers.[5]

Republican amendments

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On June 14, the United States House of Representatives passed the US$895 billion defense spending bill in a 217–199 vote, with several added socially conservative amendments made by House Republicans that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson approved in order to prevent any hardline Republicans from blocking the bill.[6] All but six House Democrats opposed the bill, while only three House Republicans opposed the bill. Many Democrats criticized the changes and the House Republicans for using the mandatory defense bill to push forward divisive, partisan agendas.

The amendments would block funding to gender-affirming care for transgender members of the United States Armed Forces,[3] for military diversity, equity, and inclusion programs,[3] for teaching of critical race theory at military academies, climate change efforts, and for any future efforts to help bring Palestinian refugees to the United States. The amendments also planned to block an earlier policy that would reimburse travel for troops needing reproductive care or abortions,[3] and planned to defund the Gaza floating pier.

A White House spokesperson condemned the amendments as prioritizing GOP politics over the safety and needs of US troops, and called it "an unserious effort" that would not pass the Senate without several amendments being removed or altered.[7]

On July 8, the Senate Armed Services Committee publicly released its version of the NDAA text,[8] which was revealed to include a provision restricting gender-affirming care in the military, approved by a vote of the Republican members of the Committee with the support of conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.[9] This provision was not mentioned in the summary of the text the Committee had released earlier, and the presence of gender-affirming care restrictions in both the House and Senate texts was seen as increasing the odds such a provision would be included in the bill as finally passed.[9]

Military right-to-repair provision

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In July 2024, a coalition of industry groups authored a joint letter to members of both the House Armed Services Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee opposing Section 828 of the Senate version of the Act (S. 4638), entitled "Requirement for Contractors to Provide Reasonable Access to Repair Materials," which would require contractors doing business with the US military to agree "to provide the Department of Defense fair and reasonable access to all the repair materials, including parts, tools, and information, used by the manufacturer or provider or their authorized partners to diagnose, maintain, or repair the good or service."[10] The signatories to the letter included the Aerospace Industries Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, Illinois Manufacturers' Association, International Safety Equipment Association, Irrigation Association, Metals Service Center Institute, Motorcycle Industry Council, National Association of Manufacturers, National Defense Industrial Association, National Mining Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association, Plumbing Manufacturers International, Security Industry Association, and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.[10]

John D. Lavelle

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The Senate's version of the 2025 NDAA includes a clause to posthumously advance Air Force General John D. Lavelle's retired rank from major general to lieutenant general, while the House's version would fully restore his four-star general rank on the retire-list. The reconciled bill includes the clause corresponding to the Senate's version.

Antisemitism Awareness Act

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In November 2024, it was reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‑NY) wanted to attach the controversial Antisemitism Awareness Act, which the House had passed earlier in the year, to the 2025 NDAA.[11] However, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R‑LA) announced that House Republicans would reject the linkage of the two Acts, arguing that it was a scheme for Democratic Senators to avoid having to go on the record as voting for or against it.[12]

Selective Service System

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The Senate version of the NDAA contains a provision expanding selective service registration to women; the House version does not. On December 5, a group of eight GOP senators, led by Missouri's Josh Hawley, sent a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, opposing the inclusion of the provision in the final version of the Bill being negotiated between the House and Senate.[13]

Final bill

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The version of the bill that was negotiated and agreed to by the House and Senate removed provisions that restricted abortion access, DEI programs and gender-affirming care for active-duty service members.[14][15] However, afterwards, House Speaker Mike Johnson added a provision that would ban TRICARE from covering gender-affirming care for minors which was not in the negotiated version agreed to by the House and Senate.[14] The provision threatened the traditionally bipartisan support of the bill as many democrats said they could not support the bill due to the provision.[16] Over 300 LGBT and human rights organizations including the Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Lambda Legal, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Planned Parenthood, Reproductive Freedom for All and The Trevor Project voiced opposition to the bill over the provision and urged Congress to vote against it.[17]

The bill passed the House on December 11, 2024 by a vote of 281-140.[18] Many House Democrats who voted in favor of the bill voiced opposition to the provision, but decided to support the bill for other reasons such as increased pay for service members and financing new military technology.[19] On December 13, 2024, over 40 Senate Democrats signed a letter addressed to the Senate Appropriations Committee leaders urging them to reject new anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ riders in future appropriations bills.[20]

On December 16, 2024, Senator Tammy Baldwin and over 20 other Democrat Senators introduced an amendment to the Senate version of bill removing the restriction on TRICARE coverage for gender-affirming care for minors, however the amendment was never brought up for a vote.[21][22][23] On December 18, 2024, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 85-14 with the provision included. Like the House Democrats who voted in favor of the bill, Senate Democrats who voted in favor of the bill opposed the restrictions on gender-affirming care, but voted in favor of the bill for other things in the bill that they supported.[24]

LGBTQ Nation said that, due to the vague language of the provision, which bans TRICARE coverage of gender dysphoria "treatments that could result in sterilization" for minors, but does not name any specific treatments, it is unclear if the provision will actually be able to ban TRICARE coverage of gender-affirming care for minors since puberty-blocking drugs do not affect fertility.[25] Additionally, medical experts said that gender-affirming treatments do not typically cause sterilization, but LGBTQ+ advocates noted that Republicans intend for the provision to ban coverage for all gender-affirming treatments for minors under TRICARE regardless and worry that the incoming Donald Trump administration will enforce it this way.[23] The provision is estimated to affect between 6,000 and 7,000 military families.[14] However, a 2022 study found that approximately 2,500 children were treated with gender-affirming care through TRICARE in 2017.[26] The provision was opposed by military veterans, families and active-duty service members who have transgender connections.[27] Some military families with transgender kids said that if passed, they would either be forced to leave the military, seek a different insurance provider or pay out of pocket for their child's treatment.[28][29]

References

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  1. ^ Erwin, Sandra (May 23, 2024). "House Armed Services Committee advances 2025 defense policy bill". SpaceNews. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  2. ^ Marrow, Michael; Roque, Ashley; Katz, Justin; Hitchens, Theresa (May 23, 2024). "HASC greenlights draft NDAA, sends $883B bill to full House". Breaking Defense. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Erwin, Sandra (June 15, 2024). "Senate Armed Services Committee advances 2025 defense policy bill". SpaceNews. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Insinna, Valerie; Marrow, Michael (June 14, 2024). "SASC breaks spending cap by $25 billion in FY25 defense policy bill". Breaking Defense. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Mitchell, Ellen (May 24, 2024). "Here's what's in the mammoth $883.7B Defense bill passed by the House". The Hill. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  6. ^ Schnell, Mychael; Mitchell, Ellen (June 14, 2024). "House GOP approves mammoth annual defense bill with culture war amendments". The Hill.
  7. ^ O'Brien, Connor (June 14, 2024). "House Republicans narrowly pass defense bill loaded with culture war issues". Politico. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  8. ^ "FY25 NDAA Bill Text" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on Armed Services. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Kheel, Rebecca (July 9, 2024). "Restrictions on Transgender Health Care Slipped into Senate's Must-Pass Defense Bill". Military.com. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Koebler, Jason (August 28, 2024). "Appliance and Tractor Companies Lobby Against Giving the Military the Right to Repair". 404 Media. Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Rod, Marc (November 15, 2024). "Schumer moves to add Antisemitism Awareness Act to 2025 defense bill". Jewish Insider. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  12. ^ Rod, Marc (November 15, 2024). "Johnson will reject Schumer's bid to put Antisemitism Awareness Act in the NDAA". Jewish Insider. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  13. ^ Dress, Brad (December 5, 2024). "GOP senators push to take out provision in defense bill to draft women in military". The Hill. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c Donnelly, John M. (December 11, 2024). "House sends compromise NDAA to Senate". Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  15. ^ Padilla, Mariel (December 5, 2024). "Here's what you need to know about the $895.2 billion defense bill". The 19th. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  16. ^ "NDAA: US House approves $895b defense bill with contentious clause". The Express Tribute. December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  17. ^ Ring, Trudy (December 9, 2024). "Nearly 300 groups urge Congress to reject anti-trans provision in defense spending bill". The Advocate. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  18. ^ Villarreal, Daniel (December 11, 2024). "House passes NDAA bill restricting military families from getting trans healthcare". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  19. ^ Boudreaux, Thérèse (December 13, 2024). "House Democrats who voted yes on NDAA lament transgender restrictions". The Center Square. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  20. ^ Ring, Trudy (December 13, 2024). "40+ senators oppose anti-LGBTQ+, anti-abortion provisions in spending bills". The Advocate. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  21. ^ Ring, Trudy (December 17, 2024). "Tammy Baldwin, 20 other senators try to strike anti-trans provision from defense bill". The Advocate. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  22. ^ Lavietes, Matt (December 16, 2024). "Democratic senators seek to ax transgender care ban from defense bill". NBC News. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  23. ^ a b Ring, Trudy (December 18, 2024). "Senate passes defense bill with anti-trans language; now goes to Biden". NBC News. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  24. ^ Hauslohner, Abigail (December 18, 2024). "Senate passes Pentagon policy bill that set off transgender-care debate". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  25. ^ Villarreal, Daniel (December 18, 2024). "Senate passes military bill with provision restricting trans healthcare". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  26. ^ Parks, Casey (December 12, 2024). "Some military families fear block on transgender health care for kids". Washington Post. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  27. ^ Migdon, Brooke (December 11, 2024). "Military with transgender connections see NDAA provision as 'slap in the face'". The Hill. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  28. ^ Yurcaba, Jo (December 14, 2024). "Defense bill banning trans care for minors could put some families in 'survival mode'". NBC News. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  29. ^ Sprayregen, Molly (December 12, 2024). "Families consider leaving the military after House votes yes on anti-trans spending bill". MSN. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
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