The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a sweeping $895 billion defense policy bill that includes a ban on transgender care for children of military members.
What Is in the Defense Bill?
The bill passed by the House authorizes a 1 percent increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military.
The legislation, which advanced with a 281-140 vote, now heads to the Senate, where additional spending proposals are expected to face scrutiny.
Lawmakers have hailed its provisions for military pay increases, including a 14.5 percent boost for junior enlisted personnel and a 4.5 percent raise for others, as critical to improving the quality of life for service members and addressing a growing wage gap with the private sector.
Supporters emphasized the bill’s focus on addressing systemic challenges faced by military families. Republican Representative Mike Rogers of Alaska, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, noted the difficult living conditions experienced by many junior enlisted members, some of whom rely on food assistance programs to make ends meet. The bill also allocates funding for improved childcare and housing.
“No service member should have to live in squalid conditions, and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that’s exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted,” Rogers said. “This bill goes a long way to fixing that.”
However, the bill also includes a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization.
Kevin Wolf/AP
Cultural Issues Divide the House
Despite bipartisan support for much of the bill, a provision prohibiting TRICARE health plans from covering transgender-related treatments for minors has drawn backlash from Democrats. The restriction includes bans on procedures and treatments that could result in sterilization, such as certain hormone therapies.
Democratic Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, argued that these treatments have proven effective in reducing anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation among transgender youth.
“These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives,” Smith said. “And in this bill, we decided we’re going to bar servicemembers’ children from having access to that.”
In addition, Smith estimated that thousands of minors in military families currently access transgender medical care, including hormone therapy and puberty blockers. While Smith said he might have supported a study examining the use of such treatments, he condemned the outright ban on TRICARE health insurance coverage as a step too far.
He said Speaker Mike Johnson’s office insisted upon the ban and said the provision “taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation.” Johnson is a Louisiana Republican.
Meanwhile, Republican Representative Chip Roy of Texas defended the ban as a necessary measure, saying: “I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates.”
Smith echoed Roy’s sentiment about the need to prioritize military readiness over cultural disputes but underscored the irony of the situation.
“And yet, here it is in this bill,” he remarked.
Strategic Spending and Global Challenges
The bill also underscores U.S. strategic priorities, earmarking $15.6 billion for military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region to counter growing Chinese influence, significantly exceeding the Biden administration’s initial request. It also expands U.S.-Israel joint military exercises and restricts the Pentagon from citing casualty data provided by Hamas.
While many senators had hoped for a $25 billion increase in defense spending above the levels agreed upon by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden earlier this year, those efforts were blocked.
Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who is poised to become the next chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the spending limits as a significant setback for national security, stating it is a “tremendous loss for our national defense,” though he agreed with many provisions within the bill.
“We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it,” Wicker said.
House Republicans have doubled down on their commitment to maintain the McCarthy-Biden agreement’s defense spending levels, resisting calls to exceed the cap.
They are also pushing to go below the spending levels in non-defense programs, intensifying partisan clashes over budget priorities as the bill heads to the Senate for consideration.
The bill is one of Congress’s final legislative priorities before the new session in January.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
