 Defense &
National Security |
Defense &
National Security |
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Senate clears defense bill, teeing up clash with House |
Senators avoided more contentious amendments that were included in a House version passed two weeks ago. |
The Senate passed the annual defense bill on an 86-11 vote, signaling bipartisan unity on the legislation after the House bickered over its version. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Senate passage is "a stark contrast to the partisan race to the bottom we saw in the House." "House Republicans should look to the Senate to see how things get done," Schumer said. "They are throwing on the floor partisan legislation that has no chance of passing. The contrast is glaring." The House legislation passed earlier this month on a near-party line vote. Republicans muscled through the bill after including amendments to strip out military diversity programs, along with provisions taking aim at other cultural issues. Both the Senate and House bill match the topline amount of $886 billion for fiscal year 2024 in President Biden's budget request. But the Democratic-led Senate and GOP-led House will need to come to agreement in the coming months on a compromise bill. Both chambers have left for the August recess. Eleven senators voted against the bill on Thursday — six Democrats, one independent and four Republicans — most of whom argued the legislation is bloated and the Defense Department is overfunded. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said he "can't support a package that inflates military spending at the expense of working and middle-class families." "The American people have repeatedly heard from Republicans that we need to cut government spending—for education, for health care, for food assistance—and now they are enthusiastically throwing funding to their defense contractor friends," the senator said. Read the full report at TheHill.com. |
Welcome to The Hill's Defense & National Security newsletter, I'm Brad Dress — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. | |
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How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future: |
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President Biden on Friday is poised to sign a new executive order that will clear the way for major changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice for the first time in decades, taking authority away from commanders in cases of sexual assault, rape and murder to make the chain of command independent. Biden’s signature will mark the "most significant transformation" to the way the U.S. military legal system operates … |
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| President Biden on Thursday said Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Ala.) hold on military nominations — as well the Senate Republicans who have refused to stop it — are causing "a growing cascade of damage and disruption." "This partisan freeze is already harming military readiness, security and leadership, and troop morale," Biden said in remarks at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington, D.C. "Freezing pay, freezing people … |
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Ukraine is trying to breathe fresh life into a largely stalled campaign to push back Russia's forces, launching a major push in the southern Zaporizhzhia region this week. After six weeks of slow gains, Kyiv and Washington insist a second phase of the counteroffensive could unleash intensified attacks on Moscow's forces and hasten Ukrainian gains in occupied areas. "Ukraine has a substantial amount of combat power … |
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Upcoming things we're watching on our beat: |
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Brisbane, Australia, over the weekend to discuss an open and free Indo-pacific.
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill: |
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RFK Jr. says DHS denied request for Secret Service protection |
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied his request for Secret Service protection. "Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection. But not me," Kennedy … |
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Events in and around the defense world: |
- The Heritage Foundation talks on the U.S.-Mexico border crisis at 11 a.m. ET during an in-person event.
- The Middle East Institute chats on "Egypt, India and the new geostrategic landscape" for an online event at 10 a.m.
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News we've flagged from other outlets: |
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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Justice Samuel Alito said Congress has "no authority" to regulate the Supreme Court in an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s opinion section … Read more |
| Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) mocked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) call for decorum at a House subcommittee hearing Thursday, pointing to the … Read more |
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Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you next week! |
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