On Tuesday night, the House passed a compromise version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act in a vote of 363 to 70, with 51 Democrats and 19 Republicans voting against the bill.
The House and Senate armed services panels released the text of a compromise NDAA earlier on Tuesday. The massive bill authorizes $778 billion for military spending, $25 billion more than what President Biden requested for the 2022 budget. The compromise NDAA came after the Senate struggled to pass its own version of the bill.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to be brought to a vote soon. The compromise version is expected to pass through the Senate easily, and then will be sent to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
In September, the House passed a version of the NDAA that included an amendment introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) that would end US support for the war in Yemen. But the measure was stripped from the compromise version. An amendment that would have required women to register for the military draft was also stripped from the bill.
With the Pentagon focused on countering China, the NDAA will authorize $7.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI), about $2 billion more than what Biden requested. The PDI is meant to build up the US’s military forces in the Asia Pacific and includes plans to beef up the US base in Guam and set up a network of long-range missiles near China’s coast.
The unveiling of the NDAA comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Russia over Ukraine. The bill authorizes $300 million in military aid for Kyiv, a $50 million increase from what the Pentagon requested.
$778 billion(2022) + $778 billion(2023)= $1.5 trillion. What is the BBB??? Is it $1.5 trillion, spread out over how many years??
Sounds equitable to me /s
778 billion and growing for war and no debate over it at all, huge bipartidan majorities. They even gave MORE than what the president asked for. A fraction of that for infrastructure, education, and healthcare? Oh no! inflation and socialism. Fuck American politics and Congress. Congress doesn’t represent me at all.
778 billion for war and huge bipartisan majorities with no debate? A fraction of that on education, healthcare, and infrastructure? Monthslong debates and cries of socialism. Congress does not represent me at all and is the core of American warmongering.