US Senate Overwhelmingly Passes 2024 Defense Bill, Sets Up Clash With House
00:27 GMT 28.07.2023 (Updated: 01:39 GMT 28.07.2023)
© AP Photo / Gemunu Amarasinghe
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If the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is signed by President Joe Biden, it will extend the streak of successfully passed NDAAs to 62 years. However, unlike previous years there are significant differences between the House and Senate versions, potentially setting up an uphill battle in the next round of negotiations.
The US Senate easily passed the NDAA Thursday night, following a 86-11 vote. The bill will next have to be negotiated with the House of Representatives' version before being sent to US President Joe Biden's desk.
Senators voted on several amendments from Wednesday to Thursday night as they wrapped up the biggest bill of the year before the coming August recess. The $886 billion bill passed with wide bipartisan support.
The Senate, which opened NDAA talks last week and is narrowly controlled by Democrats, preferred to keep the defense bill bipartisan, unlike in the GOP-controlled House where a number of culture-related amendments were added to the package. In fact, the House bill cleared the lower chamber mostly along partisan lines, with only four Democrats supporting the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised both parties for working together on the defense package, calling the feat a "welcome departure" from what happened in the House. NDAA bills typically pass both chambers with bipartisan support.
“I’ve said repeatedly that the NDAA is an opportunity for the Senate to show we can work on the biggest issues facing our country through bipartisanship, cooperation, honest debate,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “That’s what we have seen play out so far here on the floor: bipartisanship.
Several bipartisan amendments were added to the Senate version of the bill, some focused on China and other nations considered to be adversarial to the United States. One measure blacklisted China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from buying farmland in the United States while another required more transparency for US entities investing in sensitive technologies in adversarial nations.
20 July 2023, 03:17 GMT
Another amendment will require the president to seek congressional approval before leaving NATO, a provision seemingly designed to prevent future presidents from leaving the military bloc, as former US President Donald Trump threatened to do while in office.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said he would vote against the bill, writing an op-ed on Monday titled "The Pentagon doesn't need $886bn. I oppose this bloated defense budget." Sanders followed through and voted against the bill.
On Thursday, Sanders proposed an amendment that would have cut military spending by 10%, but both parties overwhelmingly opposed it and it failed 88-11. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) voted for it, marking a rare instance of a Republican favoring military cuts. The amendment would have also penalized the Pentagon if it failed another audit, which it has for five consecutive times.
"Somehow, we never have enough money for health care, education, or housing," Sanders wrote on social media, "but always have more than enough money for a bloated and wasteful Defense Department that cannot even pass an independent audit. It’s time to change our national priorities NOW."
Like the House version of the bill, the Senate version extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) which contributes billions in aid to the Kiev regime, through the fiscal year 2027. It also authorizes more spending on weapon technology and military partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, a growing feature of the military budget which has increased US tensions with China.
The Senate also shot down an amendment that would have changed the way the Pentagon accounted for aid sent to Ukraine. The amendment was intended to address valuation errors that resulted in an extra $6.2 billion not authorized by Congress being sent to Ukraine.
20 July 2023, 02:22 GMT
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who introduced the amendment, said the discrepancy was intentional.
"The so-called 'valuation errors' around US aid to Ukraine is a transparent attempt to bypass Congress for additional funds, while continuing to prioritize Ukraine over more vital US interests, including deterring China in the Pacific," he said in a statement.
After the amendment failed, Hawley said it shows that Democratic leadership is not interested in finding out where taxpayer money is going.
"If you want to get the facts, you get the facts," Hawley said. "And this Congress doesn't want the facts." The amendment failed with a 60-39 vote.
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) said he believes the Senate will have the upper hand when negotiations with the House begin. "I don’t think the [Republicans] are going to walk away from the table if they can’t get resolution on two culture-war issues to their satisfaction," he said.
An amendment by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) to limit aid to Ukraine also failed, as did the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would have provided a pathway to citizenship for the thousands of Afghan refugees who fled to the United States after its withdrawal from the country in 2021.
Congress will be in recess in August. If the two chambers can reach a compromise on the differences in the bill, it may reach Biden's desk in September after Congress is back in office.
