The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, is a major defense spending plan that was approved by the Senate on Wednesday. One of its provisions prohibits the coverage of gender-affirming care for transgender children of military personnel.
After the House passed the same bill last week, which was negotiated by both party leaders, the Senate passed the final version of the law by a vote of 85 to 14. Now, it will go to the desk of President Joe Biden to become law.
The Defense Department’s budget for the upcoming year is established by the $895 billion bill. Although it contains more than a thousand pages of defense policy, Democrats were especially incensed about the prohibition on gender-affirming care for kids.
On Monday, more than 20 Democratic senators, led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., attempted to change the measure to eliminate the clause that would prevent medical treatment for military dependents under the age of 18 who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria from being covered by Tricare, the military’s health care program.
Despite the failure of their drive, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday, “Of course, the NDAA is not perfect.”
“Neither side would find everything they want in it. It contains several clauses that we Democrats would have preferred to be omitted completely, as well as some that we would not have inserted. However, bipartisanship is obviously necessary to see this through to completion,” Schumer continued during a Capitol Hill press conference.
In a different Senate floor speech on Tuesday, Schumer once more admitted that the NDAA “is not a perfect bill.”
Schumer went on to highlight the Democratic victories in the package, saying, “It nevertheless has some very good things that Democrats fought hard for that will strengthen military families and boost tech innovation here at home, something very important to me.”
In a statement following the House vote last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., criticized gender-affirming care as “radical woke ideology” and was a strong supporter of including the restriction on gender-affirming care for children in the measure.
The NDAA shifts the Pentagon’s emphasis from radical woke ideology to military lethality. “This legislation combats antisemitism, ends the DEI bureaucracy, forbids critical race theory in military academies, and permanently bans transgender treatment for minors,” Johnson stated.
The bill passed the House 281-140, with 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting against it and 200 Republicans and 81 Democrats supporting it.
In a statement alongside her push to amend the bill and remove the language banning gender-affirming care, Baldwin said military servicemembers had “earned the right” to make decisions about their children’s care, rather than the federal government.
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. She said that rather than politicians, I trust our service men and their physicians to make the best healthcare choices for their children.
The House Armed Services Committee’s ranking member, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., voted against the bill last week after criticizing the clause.
According to a statement from Smith, “the inclusion of this harmful provision puts the lives of children at risk and may force thousands of service members to choose between leaving the military or continuing to serve in order to ensure their child can get the health care they need.”
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