Tipsheet

NDAA 'Compromise' Passes Both the House and the Senate Despite 'Rampant Abuses'

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  December 14, 2023 2:00 PM

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is now headed to President Joe Biden's desk after it passed both the Senate with a vote of 87-13 on Wednesday night and the House on Thursday morning with a vote of 310-118. Although the bill has been touted by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) as a "good compromise," other Republicans have expressed their concerns about woke priorities and surveillance with the FISA extension of Section 702. 

Chief among those critics has been Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who, from the House floor on Thursday, spoke out against the bill, including the process. 

"So the question is, who gets to decide? That's the question. Who gets to make these grand pronouncements of who is going to compromise? Because it sure as hell wasn't any of us! That wasn't the deal," he laid out, as he expressed particular concerns with FISA. Roy specifically called out leadership as well, on "both sides" for going about the process for FISA extensions "on the back of our men in women in uniform, bring that to the floor, in violation of our rules for single subject, and then say 'take it or leave it!' That was what was done, that was the 'compromise,'" he shared, using his fingers for scare quotes. 

The process also speaks to how Washington works overall, Roy argued. "If you poke the bear in this town, right, they don't like to be poked, 'cause it changes the way this town works. Heaven forbid! Because it's been going so well, so beautifully, that we have $34 trillion in debt! And that we have rampant spying on the American people," the congressman reminded as he provided examples.

"We have rampant abuses going on, and this body is just going to extend the very mechanism of those abuses on the back of the National Defense Authorization Act and say 'have a nice day! Merry Christmas! Go home and have your turkey! Go home and be with your families. That's what's actually occurring!"

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Roy had also posted and reposted a graphic multiple times last week showing how much Republicans gave up when it comes to what was actually included in the House Republican version and what ultimately made it and was left out of the "compromise" version, with the post using scare quotes.

The bill does not end taxpayer funded abortion travel, taxpayer funded gender transition surgeries, President Joe Biden's "radical climate agenda," ban "drag shows and drag queen story hours on DoD installations," prohibit "race-based admissions at military academies," or get rid of "Chief Diversity Officers," all which the House Republican bill did. It also has a weaker protection of servicemembers who were discharged for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine, and is weaker on accountability for funding Ukraine than what had been in the House Republican version. 

Those who voted in favor of the bill, as well as the House Armed Services Committee X account, are reminding that the bill nevertheless does prohibit funding for Critical Race Theory (CRT) and prohibit taking adverse action against members who do not take the COVID-19 vaccine, which have been Republican priorities.

The Hill's Emily Brooks also posted how Rogers spoke to the practicality of members being able to be satisfied with bills. "There is no piece of legislation that’s of consequence around here that they’re satisfied with unless they get 100 percent of what they will, period, end of story. And that’s not practical," Rogers said.

It's also noteworthy that, as Roy took note of in a quoted repost from Thursday after the vote, more Democrats supported the bill than Republicans did in the House, despite how Republicans control the chamber.  

The same was true for the continuing resolution last month, as well as a votes earlier this year to raise the debt ceiling and on September 30 to avert a government shutdown.

Roll Call described the vote breakdown as "the latest sign of the shifting partisan politics of national defense."

The concerns about wokeness in the military and which party really benefits from such compromises has led to Republican infighting in a way that's actually involved Community Notes. 

When Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) went to praise the bill last Thursday over X, his post was hit with context reminding that the "wins" he was celebrating weren't actually in the compromise version.