Dem
51
GOP
49
Well, this was a bit of a surprise. Everyone knows that the annual defense appropriations bill is a sacred cow; nobody wants to run for reelection and be accused of failing to support the troops. So, House Republicans stuffed several culture wars items into this year's bill, and passed it. That's not the surprise. Then, the Senate stripped out a bunch of the culture wars stuff, and passed the amended version. That's not the surprise. Then, the House took a (quick) look at the amended bill and... promptly passed it. That's the surprise.
The final version of the bill allocates $886 billion for the military in FY 2023-24, an increase of $28 billion over FY 2022-23. Service members will get a 5.2% pay raise, an inspector general will be given responsibility for overseeing Ukraine aid and, at long last, certain records relating to UFOs will be made available to the public through NARA. Priorities! Controversially, the bill extends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows for warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals, to April 19. The members hope to work out a permanent resolution on that matter in the new year.
As to the culture wars, the House had included provisions forbidding the military from helping service members to get abortions or to receive gender-affirming care. Those are gone. On the other hand, provisions aimed at ending "wokeness" in the military survived. The military can no longer fund drag shows, or display the LGBTQ pride flag at military installations, or teach Critical Race Theory at service academies or Department of Defense schools. Priorities!
The bill passed the Senate 87-13, with 42 Democrats, 43 Republicans and 2 independents voting for, and 6 Democrats, 6 Republicans and 1 independent (Bernie Sanders, I-VT) voting against. In the House, the vote was 310-118, with 167 Democrats and 143 Republicans voting for, and 45 Democrats and 73 Republicans voting against. To a greater or lesser extent, it was the fringier members of each party who opposed the bill, albeit often for the same reason (they don't like FISA).
If you are getting the sense that every major bill to pass the House this session, and actually get signed into law, attracted more Democratic than Republican votes, you are on the mark. For the defense bill, 53% of the yeas were from Democrats. For the two stopgap bills that have kept the government operating, it was 62% Democratic yeas. For the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, it was 53% Democratic yeas. It would seem that if the Senate is controlled by Democrats, and the White House is controlled by a Democrat, a bill has to be broadly acceptable to House Democrats in order to become law. Who knew? Presumably this is why Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) hustled the revised bill through the House—he got a little bit of the culture wars stuff, and pushing for any more would just have left the military unfunded with House Republicans holding the bag. Maybe he's more pragmatist, and less True Believer, than it seemed.
In any event, things are humming along well enough that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) decided to shorten the Senate's recess in hopes of hammering out a deal on border funding (and, presumably, money for Ukraine and Israel). The House is in recess for the rest of the year, but if Schumer & Co. come up with something that gets bipartisan support, Johnson will presumably call his chamber back into session. Whether Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) shows up, in that event, is anyone's guess (see below). (Z)