The office of Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., told NBC News that 14 Democratic senators will introduce an amendment Monday night to remove language from Congress’ mammoth defense funding bill that aims to exclude coverage of gender-affirming care for transgender children of service members.
Last week, the House passed the 1,800-page National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, by a vote of 281-140, with 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting against it and 200 Republicans and 81 Democrats voting in favor. The $895 billion bill establishes defense plans for the next year and authorizes the Defense Department’s yearly budget.
A clause in the bill that would forbid medical treatment for military dependents under the age of 18 who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria under the military’s health care program, Tricare, is being removed by the group of 14 senators, led by Baldwin, who will be the only LGBTQ senator in the incoming term.
To be clear, we are referring to parents who have earned the right to make the greatest choices for their families while serving their country in uniform. Baldwin said in a statement, “I trust our servicemembers and their doctors to make the best healthcare decisions for their kids, not politicians.” Our proposal would safeguard military families’ autonomy and provide them with access to sometimes life-saving medical care for their children.
Senior House and Senate officials from both parties negotiated the defense budget package, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., lobbied both publicly and behind the scenes for the inclusion of the clause. Johnson stated in a statement after last week’s House vote that military lethality, not radical woke philosophy, is the legislation’s first priority. This law combats antisemitism, abolishes the DEI bureaucracy, forbids critical race theory at military academies, and permanently outlaws transgender treatment for minors.
It would be one of the first times Congress approved a federal law specifically targeting transgender people if the provision is kept in the NDAA. The Senate is expected to vote on the NDAA this week before departing Washington for the remainder of the year; if it succeeds, President Joe Biden will either sign the law or veto it. The NDAA must be approved before January 1.
According to a draft media statement from Baldwin’s office that was sent to NBC News and is set to be released on Monday night, 6,000 to 7,000 children of US service members may be impacted if the transgender health care provision is approved. About 10,000 trans adolescents between the ages of 6 and 22 have parents who are serving in the military, according to the Modern Military Association of America, an organization that supports LGBTQ veterans and active military personnel.
Transgender people, who, according to the Williams Institute, comprise only 0.5% of all Americans over the age of 18, have been the subject of numerous arguments in Congress in recent weeks. House Republicans have proposed a bill to prevent transgender persons from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity within the Capitol complex, following the election of Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., as the first transgender member of Congress. The question of whether the party’s position on trans rights contributed to Vice President Kamala Harris’s election defeat has also caused some Democrats to quarrel with one another.
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Patty Murray of Washington, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut will co-sponsor the amendment to remove the trans health provision from the defense bill, according to a statement from Baldwin’s office.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expressed his optimism that the Senate can find a way to pass an NDAA as soon as tomorrow during a floor speech on Monday night.
“The NDAA this year is not a perfect bill, but it does have some very good things that Democrats fought hard for, which will boost tech innovation here at home and strengthen military families, which is very important to me,” he said.
Schumer stated that the plan contains certain unfavorable features that Democrats would not have included, but he did not particularly address the transgender health care provision.
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